Not Alone
by Allygrlfrnd
Summary: When Celia ,better knowen as Foxface, is entered in the 74th hunger games her plan is to not make any aliences and work by herself. But when she meet Christan a boy from district ten her plan change and she can't help but think that maybe she doesn't really want to be alone. Foxface story.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

I wake up and brush a strand of my red hair out of my face, yawning I look over at my clock. Nine in the morning, glaring slightly at the clock I stand up and get dressed in baggy tan pants and a black tank top. I pull my hair into a ponytail and walk out side to meet my father. When I get there I see him sitting on a tree stump arranging a very of leaves and berries. His dark hair is falling in his eyes and his face is set in a stoney expression. Then again, every parents face looks the same today, it's the reaping. I'm not worried though. My sister, who has trained like a career all her life, is volunteering today. All she's talked about is bringing her district 'pride' and 'glory' and 'Oh Celia, you should volunteer next year! Be just like your big sister Rosa!". I really hate her and she really hates me. But I know volunteering is what she's wanted to do for a long time. So this is her year. I walk up to dad and smile

"Hey dad what are we doing this morning" He looks at me and a small smile shows on his lips. Ever since my sister decided her dream in life is to be a career my dads been training me in survival and not fight techniques. Like how to get an opening big enough to run away from any opponent. What plants to eat and which to avoid, how to steal and not get caught and how to get around a trap.

"Plant review!" He says with a chuckle at my expression of unhappiness. I hate plant review because I think its pointless I know all the plants here in district five and the one I don't know I'll just stay away from. Easy as pie. But he thinks I'll need it.

"Really? Why? I don't need it!" I really don't want to do this I think I just want to go back to bed actually.

"Because its important, now identify." He says back. For the next hour I identify plants and berries. Never getting a single one wrong. But I do it to keep my dad happy because I know he's worrying about Rosa.

When I was about nine, my mom fell in love with a capitol citizen. They ran off together to district one and I haven't seen her since but it changed my whole family. Rosa, who was twelve at the time, started training like a career, making weapons out of tree branches and stabbing at the animals in the forest behind our house. My dad stopped smiling as much and his face seemed to age ten years, he became over protective of us like he was afraid we would leave too. And I stopped talking. I used to be so popular and talkative, but after mom left I lost my will to talk and express myself. I only really talk to my family now and people I trust. But there aren't many of them around here.

After training I walk back inside to get ready for the reaping. When I get to the house I see Rosa sitting on the stairs crying. And as much as I don't like her I hate to see her cry.

"Rosa? What's wrong?" I ask her but skeptically, she's done this before for attention and I wouldn't put it past her to act like she's scared to volunteer.

"Celia! I can't do it! I can't volunteer!"

I can't believe she's doing this again. She such a faker. Rolling my eyes I ask "Why not? You've wanted to do this for so long!"

She starts sobbing even harder and for some reason I believe that she really can't do it "I know! But I can't because I'm..." Her voice trails off and I'm starting to worry.

"your what?" I ask trying to keep my voice steady. An array of possibilities flying through my mind, all very bad.

"I'm pregnant!" She sobs then grabs my into a bone crushing hug, but I can tell she's not happy. She's scared.

"Rosa! What?" I'm shocked and if dad found out he would kill her!

"I'm so sorry..." She still hasn't let me go when I realize that I am no longer safe from the reaping.

**Hope you enjoy Foxfaces story! Leave a review please! It would be much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I'm not safe. I'm standing here holding my sobbing sister but the only thought that's going through my head is I'm not safe. I can't try to convince her to volunteer she has to worry about her baby. So I'm going to have to stick it out. I shouldn't even be worrying. My chances of being picked are so low its incredible. I've never had to take tessera, so my name only in there five times because I'm only fifteen, and so many people have to take tessera in district five that one of them is bound to be picked. But I can't shake that pre-reaping fear. I hear dad walking to the front door and I shake Rosa.

"You need to get to your room and get ready for the reaping, I'll meet you there in a bit. But whatever you do don't tell dad." She nods her head and turns to run up the stairs right as dad enter the house.

"Hey Dad!" I say cheerfully.

He gives me a skeptical look and raises one eye brow then asks me "Why aren't you getting ready?"

"OH! You're right! I need to get ready!" I turn on my heel and run up to my room as fast as I can. I'm ready to kick myself in the face at how stupid I acted right there but there was nothing I could do about it. I get to the top of the stairs and head towards my sisters room. I find her standing in front of a mirror looking at her self. She's wearing a pink knee length dress and her blonde hair is falling in waves down her back. She looks so pretty but her blue eyes are filled with tears. I lean against the door way and she turns to face me.

"You took all the tessera, so your really likely to be pick, your names been entered twenty one times." She starts sobbing at this but I keep speaking "but don't worry. If your name is called, I'll volunteer. Not for you, but for your baby. I have a decent chance of winning these games so you don't have to worry."

Her expression is shocked at what I've just said. We've never really gotten along well but I couldn't let her do this, and I couldn't let that baby get hurt. So I turn and walk out before she can say anything. I get to my room and close the door collapsing on the bed.

What did I just do? This was an awful idea my chances just got so high I can't believe it. Twenty six times. I take a deep breath and root through my closet for something to wear to the reaping. I decide on a sliver dress with tiny flowers sew along the hem. I brush my hair out so that it falls straight down my back. I slip into a pair of silver flats then go back down stairs. My dads waiting at the door for us, so we can all go to the reaping. When Rosa finally gets down stairs she hardly says a word and just starts walking. I take my dads hand and give it a squeeze. He think the Rosas going to volunteer, and he for sure going to lose a daughter. I hope that nether of us gets picked but I know that there's no telling. We get to the reaping after a long walk in silence. I'm ushered in the the rest of the fifteen year olds but I don't talk to any of the other girls. All of them think I'm weird and happy to just stay away from them. I see my sister saunter up to the rest of the eighteen year olds and get immersed in a group of her friends. By the sounds of their sequels something tells me she told them she's not volunteering. I roll my eyes and watch the escort walk up onto the stage. His name is 'King' no last name but I'm sure he's made it up because his hair has been dyed gold and spiked up in a crown pattern. Were his eye brows should be are little red jems, and all I can think during his speech is that he looks like a freak. What in the world compels these people to dress so weird! I'm pulled out of my trance when I hear him say in his high pitched voice "Gentlemen first!" I stand and wait for him to call someones name, know that no one that I care for is in trouble at the moment, he reaches his hand in the bowl and calls

"Charlie Markels!" A boy from the seventeen year olds walks out and squares his shoulders. As he walks to the stage I can't tell how he feels about this but his face is set with no expression.

I watch as 'King' walks to the girls bowl and says "Ladys!". He plunges his hand in the bowl and I silently pray that its not me or Rosa. He pulls out the slip of paper and unfolds it walking to the mic he says a name

"Celia Torrence!"

I realize he said my name and I'm pushed towards the stage, swallowing my fear I walk up to the stage and stand on Kings left side. He says some words that I can't hear over the pounding in my ears then I look over at Charlie and see he has his hand extended towards me. I shake his hand and we are escorted into the justice building, and I start to prepare myself to say good bye to my family.

**Thanks for the reads! Please review if you like it!**


	3. Chapter 3

They usher me and Charlie down a long hallway and into separate rooms. I try to compose myself so I don't cry during this. But somehow I know no matter what happens I will. My room is so lush. It looks like something that would belong in the capitol. Or what I would imagine belongs in the capitol. I've never been and before now never planned to be. The bed is covered in a thick gold feather blanket and there are two red over stuffed chairs in the corner of the room. I take a seat in one of the chairs and wait for my first visitor. After what feels like hours my sister walks in sobbing. I stand up and hug her.

"It's okay. I'll be fine, I might be able to win! Who knows? I can hide and find food well enough."

"Yeah.. You can win!" she grabs my shoulders and pulls me back to get a good look at me. "Your pretty enough, you can probably get some sponsors. You just need to get a good training score! Just be likable! Even though that's probably really hard for you... Damn I should have volunteered! I could have won! Now your going to get all the glory!"

I roll my eyes and and swallow my anger. I don't want this to be the last time I see her, but if it is I want us to be okay so I just bottle it up and smile at her.

"You couldn't volunteer! You have to think about your baby now. Keep him safe too. Promise me you'll keep him safe. And you have to tell dad why you didn't volunteer. The truth though. That your pregnant. He'll understand. So you have to tell him!"

Suddenly the door it pushed open and a peace keeper walks in and grabs Rosa's arm and starts to pull her away.

"ROSA!" I scream I don't want her to go, I don't want to go!

"It's okay Celia! I promise! You will come home! And you will win!"

The door slams behind her and I fall back into my chair sobbing. I wish I knew how much time I had left. But more then anything I wish I could go back to this morning and just stay in bed. Sleep a little longer, maybe even wakeup earlier so I could spend more time with my dad.

I hear the door open and I look up and standing the the door way is my dad. I run to him and he pulls me into a hug and I start to sob.

"Daddy I'm scared."

"It's okay, you'll be fine. You will make it out of there. Your smart. You know what you can and can't eat. You'll do great. We only have a few minutes but I want you to know I love you and I believe you can win."

"I'll win. I promise."

"You need to win. Come back home."

I nod and give him another hug.

"I have to leave. I'm sorry. Your sister and I wont leave the TV. We may not be able to go with you but know that you won't be alone." He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a necklace. It's a silver chain with a heart locket on it.

"This was my mothers necklace. Inside there's a picture of the three of us so your not alone."

"Thank you." I take the necklace and put it over my head.

The peacekeepers come in before I can say anything else and they start to take him out of the room.

"Remember I love you!" He calls as he's being pulled away.

"I love you to daddy..." I whisper but he's already gone.

**Thanks for reading! I really hope you like it! Please review if you do!**


	4. Chapter 4

The door slams behind my dad and I slide to the floor sobbing. I don't want to go I'm scared and alone I look at the necklace dad gave me and open the heart locket. Inside there, just like dad said, there's a picture of us. Me, dad and Rosa are all pulling funny faces at the crammer. The pictures black and white because we can't afford a colour camera. I wonder how dad got the picture this small. He must have sent it to the capitol for some fancy alterations. I smile at the picture and try not to think of how much it would have cost him to get it. I stand up off the floor and try not to start crying again. I know in a few minutes I will be brought to the train and there will be cameras waiting to get a shot of the newest tributes. I take deep breaths and put on a smile. I want the people of the capitol to like me, even if I hate them. I dry my eyes and wait for the peacekeepers to come and get me. I don't have to wait long. In less then five minutes the peacekeepers are pulling me down the hall towards the train.

"I can walk." I snap at them as I try to shake them off, but they just push me ahead of them aggressively. It's a short walk to the train but its hard to get on past all the people in front of the trains I smile at as many cameras as I see the flashes but it's hard to keep up with them all. I look over briefly to see what Charlie is doing. I see him looking straight ahead with his chest puff out and his shoulders square. I can't help but laugh a little. We are whisked onto the train and then the doors close behind us. I feel the ground lurch beneath my feet as we start moving I run as fast as I can to the back window and just mange to catch a glimpse of district five before we are pulled out of sight.

I sigh and walk back toward the entrance to the train. There looking confused is Charlie and our two mentors. I stop dead in my tracks at the way they are looking at me. I'm so embarrassed that I want to curl up and disappear but I force myself to try and get a conversation going.

"Hi!" I smile at them and try to act nice but I'm sure my face is red "I'm Celia Torrence!"

They both look confused for a second before the male mentor steps forward "Hi, I'm Shane Manning. Winner of the 67th hunger games." Shane has light brown hair that falls lightly into his blue eyes, he looks like someone out of district 1, in other words really capitol. If I remember correctly he was a career. Being from district five we can become careers sometimes, although it doesn't happen often. I smile back at him trying to seem nice, but I can tell that's he's not haunted by the ghosts of his hunger games.

Our next mentor is a girl only a few years older then me, probably seventeen or eighteen, with long blonde hair and green eyes. She almost looks like Rosa in a way.

"Hey. I'm Claire Stanley, and if your wondering I won the 72nd hunger games. But I'm not nearly as proud of that as Shane is of his." She grins at me and Charlie and I smile back, but it's not a forced smile. I actually think I might get along with her.

I notice that Charlie hasn't said much to anyone, I look at him but he doesn't seem to really notice what going on. I feel sorry for him because I know that, with the way he's acting, I'll be the favourite tribute this year.

"You guys go get changed and wash up, dinner will be ready in a few minutes your rooms are just down the hall" Shane signals towards the far side of the train and we both start walking that way. I'm excited for dinner because from what I've heard, the food will be the best part of this. Even if I make it out alive.

**Thansk for reading! Sorry I didn't update earlier I had no internet but I promise I'll try to upload tomorrow! Also thanks to Claire for the review!**


	5. Chapter 5

I get to a door with 'girl tribute' written on the front, I slide open the door and stop in my tracks. The room is bigger then my house. That's the only thought that runs through my mind. My room is bigger then my house, and I'm on a train! The walls are draped in a deep red velvet wall paper. The bed is the size of two stuck together. There's an oak dresser against the wall that's probably filled with all sorts of clothing. There's an attached room with a shower but I probably won't get to use it, the trip to the capitol only takes 12 hours. I walk over to the dresser and open the top drawer, inside an array of clothing, rummaging around I find a blue top and a pair of black pants. I put them on and walk to the dinning area.

What I see shocks me. Laying on the table are platters and platters of food. Fruit of all kinds, bread baskets, white grain things with bits of what I heard is beef in it. I try to stop myself from running to it and stuffing my face, but its hard. I walk over as calmly as I can and fill my plate with a little of everything. Grinning I start eating. Everything is so rich and delicious I can't believe it's real. At home we never get food like this, sure we get enough food to get by but it's never like this. Shane and Claire are sitting so polity and eating so cleanly while I'm just stuffing my face. Charlie from what I can see is shooting me glares from across the table as he eats. I quietly wonder what his problem is but push that thought aside.

"Alright." Shane breaks the silence and starts talking, "After this we are going to go watch the replays of the reaping. Then tomorrow morning at breakfast we will discuss strategy. Celia, you will need to leave at 10:30 to get ready for the opening ceremonies. Charlie you will need to leave at twelve."

I nod and look down at my plate. Thinking about the opening ceremonies and about meeting my stylist makes me sick. I push my plate away and try not to think about tomorrow to much.

"Celia? If you like you can go sit in the TV room and wait for us if your done." I look up and see Claire looking at me.

Realizing that they might think I'm weak I put a smile on my face.

"Sure!" I stand up and walk towards the TV room. I get there and sit on one of the couches frowning at the TV. I don't really like the idea of seeing my fellow tributes but I guess it can't be avoided. I'm soon joined in the room by Charlie. He looks at me then sits in a chair just across the room. He sits there staring at me for what feels like forever until I finally can't take it anymore.

"WHAT!" I snap at him. Charlie tilts his head a little as if thinking of an answers.

"I'm going to kill you. Everyone thinks that the districts need to stick together, but I need to build myself a winners profile. And mines going to be brutality." I feel myself shrink back at this death threat but before I can say anything back Claire and Shane walk into the room.

"Alright guys lets turn on the TV!" I watch Claire walk over to the TV and flick through channels until she gets to the replays. We are just in time because they are just about to draw the first district one tribute. My stomach sinks and I try not to let out a sob as I prepare to meet my fellow tributes.

**Thanks for reading! it means so much to me! please continue to read and review!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

I watch as the district one escort pulls out a beautiful blonde girls named, Glimmer? and some small boy who is quickly replaced by a tall boy who could easily throw me fifteen yards. District two has its normal barbarians and district four has kids who are like twelve years old. I guess I don't really have to worry about the careers. The rest of the tributes look average until we get to district ten when the boy is called my breath catches in my throat. His name is Christan Williams, and he is beautiful. He has short black hair and hazel eyes. His skin is tan like he's been laying in the sun and he holds himself with pride. But his eyes are watering and I can tell he's scared. My heart melts at the sight of him and I have to shake myself. He could be an awful person. I need to make it out of the hunger games and if he's going to sway me like this. And I haven't even talked to him, is bad. I close my eyes until I hear shouting. I look at the screen and see a girl running up to the stage. From district twelve? Why is she volunteering? She's saying her name into the mic

"Katniss Everdeen" She's her sister. She volunteered for her sister. She's sort of in the same place I am. I think that maybe she might make a good ally but something tells me with her I would get a knife in the back. Claire turns off the TV and looks at us.

"Find anyone you think will be a challenge or even and ally?" She looks at us very seriously and I try to keep my calm. She can't know about Christan. I know it's stupid to get attached to a video but there's something about him that made me think. I shake my head and I see Charlie do the same. I hate that he's doing the same as me so I blurt out.

"That district 12 girl? She looked promising." I just don't want to be the same as Charlie who right now I can tell is staring at me. I try to ignore him and look at Claire and Shane.

"That's a really bad idea. District 12 never makes it past day four and if the other tributes think your working with her they'll kill you faster too." Shane says while staring at me. I nod all previous thoughts of ever allying with her quickly disappearing. I stand up and go to my room in silence wanting nothing more then to get away from them. I leave the room feeling their eyes on my back. I walk into my room and close the door behind me. I walk to the bed and pick up the dress from the edge. I hold it to my face and breath in. The smell of home fills my nose and I sink into the bed and curl up under the sheets the dress pressed to my face. I feel cold tears stinging my cheeks as I realize my chances of winning are so low. Seeing the tributes today makes everything so real. I drift into a restless sleep filled with dreams of the upcoming games. I wake up with a start as I hear a knock on the door. My head and eyes hurt and my cheeks are wet with tears like I had been crying all night.

I roll out of bed and stumble to the door. Opening it I find a note at the bottom.

_Shower and be ready for breakfast in ten minutes_

_-Shane_

I roll my eyes then change into a light blue strapless dress with white polka dots on it. I brush my hair and pull it into a bun on the top of my head. I look at myself in the mirror and try to smile. I still look like me which comes as a relief. I walk to the dinning car and try to eat but the idea of meeting my stylist scares me. I pick up some bread and nibble at the edge but don't touch anything else. Shane shows up but Claire is nowhere to be seen. Which is weird because I thought they wouldn't leave each others side. He loads his plate with food then comes to sit across from me at a the table.

"You ready for this?" He asks me without looking up from his food. All will power I had to act tuff diminishes.

"No. Not at all" I feel my eyes well up with tears again and I rub them away.

"It won't be that bad really. The worst part is the waxing but after that its fine." He gives me a weak smile then we sit in silence until ten then we pull up into the station and get ready to head into the capitol.

**Thank you SO much for reading it means SO much to me. I hope you enjoy! and I promise things will get better soon! **


	7. Chapter 7

The train pulls to a stop and I can hear people outside cheering. I take a deep breath and stand up from the table. I walk towards my room and push open the door. I notice my dress is gone but my necklace is still sitting on the dresser right were I left it. I pick it up and look at the small silver heart sitting in the palm of my hand. I close my hand around it and slip it over my head. Touching it one more time for luck I walk out of my room. I get to the door of the train and see everyone standing there together. I walk over to them. I'm so nervous I can feel my heart in my throat. The train door opens and immediately I'm blinded by flashes. I pull on a smile and act as happy to be here as I can. I don't really know what I'm doing but I do know that I need to make them like me. So I wave and smile at the cameras until we get into a car and start to drive towards the makeover center. The car is silent until we get to the center. We all get out of the car. Claire and Charlie start talking as they walk off in one direction and Shane steers me in the other.

"Don't be nervous. Smile just like you did at those carmera. Act like you care about you care what your prep team in say and whatever you do. Do not resist. Go and be brave. They aren't as scary as I know you think they are. I felt the same way." Shane starts talking me through to me about this and my nerves calm down a bit.

We get to a grey door and stop, I look at Shane and give him a half smile. Shane looks at me and for a second I feel like he understands this. But he was a career, he's supposed to love this. Shane opens the door to let me in and step inside.

"This is the least scary part of the whole experience." With that Shane closes the door and I'm left alone with my prep team. I turn to face them and suddenly I'm engulfed in a group of very colorful people.

**Thanks for reading sorry this ones really short it'll be longer tomorrow! Also thanks to redpikachu84 for the review!**


	8. Chapter 8

I wrap myself in a plush white robe and sit on a gray chair shaped like an egg. I wait for a few minutes before the door opens and my stylist walks in. He has his hair in three braids down his back the left one is blue, the middle one is pink and the right one is green. His eyes are painted blue and his lips are green. He's wearing a long tunic that goes just past his knees and he's wearing sandals.

"Hello! I'm Zeus! My goodness your not that awful!" He gives me a half grimace and turns me in a circle. "Not that awful at all."

I try to smile at him but he's really vial. He pull a dress, I think it's a dress, out of a bag. It's silver and sparkles and it has a giant head piece. He has me take off my robe and helps me step into a silver dress that comes just above the knee. It's straight and doesn't clingy to me at all but it still make me look beautiful. I smile and twirl as I see the dress is made up of tiny little pieces of glass that reflect every bit of light in the room. I'm not sure how it represents district 5 but its really pretty. I'm also wearing a pair of silver sandals with great traction so I don't slip.

"Do you love it or do you love it?" He grins at me in pride and I nod, I do love it.

"Then your going to love the head piece!" He picks up the head piece and fastens it to my head. I goes under my chin and wraps around my head. There is about three feet around my face of silver sparkles.

I try not to wrinkle my nose but it's hard not to. I liked the outfit until they added this. I smile though and try to bear it. He whisks me down into the chariot room and towards my mentors. Shane takes my hand and helps me step into my chariot, while I look around at the other tributes. I see all the tributes lined up and in costume. I can't recognize some of them under all the costume and make-up. But I see the district 10 boy almost right away. He's wearing a cowboy outfit in complete gold. He looks up at me and we meet eyes of a second before I look the other way. This isn't good. I can't fall for him here. He's a jerk, I just have to keep telling myself that and he can't get to me. Just don't talk to him and I'll be fine. I turn back to my mentors as Charlie climbs into the the chariot with me. I'm suddenly flooded with images of him pushing me out of the chariot to get a head start on the games. I grip the edge of the chariot and try to keep my feet planted. I'm suddenly very glad I'm wearing these sandals. Shane comes up beside me and puts his hand on my arm.

"You'll do fine, just smile and wave like you did before to the caremas. They will love you." He pats my arm then goes off to consult with Claire.

Charlie looks at me out of the corner of his eye and I try to ignore him. The chariot lurches and we move into its place among the others. I take a deep breath as I watch the first three districts leave and four pull up to leave. I start to shake with fear and I feel myself sway and almost falling out of the chariot.

"Shane! I can't do this! Get me off of this thing!" The Chariot starts to pull away and I feel it start moving. "Shane! Shane please!" I feel tears in my eyes as sudden fear overcomes me.

"They'll love you! You can do this!" I watch as he waves to me as we pull into the streets.

I tense up and try not to fall for a bit but soon I start waving and smiling. Maybe I can do this maybe I can win. My outfit is sure to get me sponsors. But my hope is cut short when I see on the screens district 12's tributes. And they're on fire. I stop smiling when I see this. All around us they are cheering for district 12. I try to wave and grab their attention again but it's to late. I know I've lost them. By the time we get into the city circle the rest of us are forgotten. All the crowd cares about is district 12.

We stand for president Snow's speech then we are pulled into the training building, were we will spend the rest of our time here. I step off my chariot as soon as we get in. I notice its not just me angry about district 12. Every other tribute is glaring at them when they pull in. Shane and Claire come up to us and offer us congratulations but I can't hear it over the pounding in my ears. I'm angry at district 12 for ruining my good impression for making me forgettable. They usher us into the training building and towards the elevator. I get into one of the elevators with lots of tributes in it trying to make sure I miss district 12. Everyone press their floor number and we shoot up. District 1 and 2 get off leaving me alone. Suddenly a hand comes out from around me and press the number ten. I scream at this disembodied hand that just shot around me. I whirl around to see who it is. And much to my dismay it's district 10, Christan. He's standing there laughing at me because I got scared.

"Shut up." I snap at him.

I look up at the elevator number and see that we are in between district 4 and 5. I breath a sigh of relief that I'm almost there and I can get away from him when the elevator trembles under our feet and jerks to a stop. All the lights turn out and the elevator goes pitch black. I try to press my button again but it doesn't work. I start to freak out. They're going to kill us in here. We did something wrong and they're trying to kill us! I slam on the door to the elevator but there's no response.

"Calm down it probably just shorted out." I turn around and Christan is sitting on the ground playing with his hat. "Someone will be up to fix it in a bit."

I'm hit with the sudden realization that I'm stuck in an elevator with the district 10 boy. The one person I told myself to stay away from and now it's just us.

**Thanks for reading sorry I didn't post alot but I'll try to post twice today! Please review it means alot to me and if you do you'll get a shout out! (yes I am bribing you :D)**


	9. Chapter 9

No. This can't be happening. This can not be happening.

"No. No way." I look at him in disbelief.

"Calm down. There's nothing you can do about it. We just have to wait it out." He shrugs his shoulders at me "So your name's Celia right? District 5?"

"Don't talk to me." I snap at him, I don't want to get attached to anyone here.

"Okay!" He put his hands up like he's under arrest "Just trying to pass the time!" He turns to look out the glass wall of the elevator to the streets below.

I cross my arms and slide to the ground, throwing off my stupid head piece. We sit in silence for a few minutes not looking at each other. I look over at him and his words run through my mind. 'Just trying to pass the time.' I can talk to him now then never talk to him again. If I'm lucky after this I won't even have to look at him.

"Yes. My name's Celia. And I'm from district 5. What about you?" I turn to look at him and he has his eye brows raised at me in confusion.

"Christan, district 5" I nod like I didn't already know that.

"So, how did you know the elevator broke down? I've never been in one in my entire life." I try to keep the conversation going as best I can.

"My dad's an engineer for the capitol, he makes weekly visits to fix things then tells me and my sisters about what he fixes. Elevators just happen to be one of them"

"Really? That's really cool! So he's not a farmer? How did he manage that? I thought all district 10's became farmers." I'm actually fascinated by what he's saying I've never heard of anyone not doing what their district specializes in.

"Nah, He didn't like the idea so instead of going to the farm he started to fix things around the district for money. When the capitol found out, instead of punishing him, they hired him" He smiles at me and I can tell he's proud of what his dad does.

"wow. I never thought people could do that." I smile at him, happy we actually got to talk.

A bit of me remembers I might have to kill him and that we're supposed to be enemies but I push it down. I'm having a good time talking to him even though I know I shouldn't be.

"So what about you? What's your life like?" He says.

"Oh, well my dad works at the power plant but he has been training me in survival since I was nine and I have a sister who is eighteen and a soon to be niece or nephew. So nothing really."

My eyes well up at the thought of my family, even my sister. I wipe at my eyes and don't notice he's sitting beside me until I'm already crying. He puts his arm around my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

"I want to tell you it'll be okay, but it might not be." I'm shocked at his honesty but in a weird way I find it comforting.

We sit like this for a while until suddenly the elevator drops about ten feet. I scream and clutch Christans shirt. He wraps his arms around me protecting me from the fall. The car shakes to a stop and I start to sob. He pulls me closer and croons in my ear. I shake with sobs as all my emotions surface. The games, the opening ceremonies, Christan, my soon almost death. He holds me until I stop crying and I look at him.

"I'm so sorry... So sorry..." I feel like I just need to apologize to him.

"It's okay. Really I feel the same way." I try to push off of him but he pulls me closer so I settle against him and try to get comfortable. I start to doze in and out of sleep when the elevator lights turn back on. I look around and smile. I reach up and press the buttons 5 and 10. Immediately the elevator starts to move again. Christan and I stand up right as we get to my floor. I step out of the elevator and see Shane asleep on the couch.

"See you tomorrow" I turn around just in time to see Christan wave at me and the doors close.

I smile to my self as I walk to the couch next to Shane. I don't know were my bed is so I just curl up there and drift off into a dreamless sleep.

**Hope you liked the Christan meet up! Please post a review if you liked it! and also thanks to candykisses101 for the really awesome review! Also sorry for reposting this I forgot to spell check it last time XD**


	10. Chapter 10

When I wake up Shane is standing over me.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I shout as I scramble over the edge of the couch in alarm.

"I have two questions for you." He holds up two fingers.

"THAT STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY YOU WERE WATCHING ME SLEEP!" I shout at him, I'm not angry just freaked out.

"Question one. Where were you last night? Question two. Why are you asleep on the couch in your chariot outfit?" He completely ignores me and just stares at me.

"Fine then! Answer one. The elevator broke down and I was stuck until it started working again. Answer two. I didn't know what bedroom was mine, thus no clothes and me on the couch!" I glare at him and he glares back.

"Follow me." He spins on his heel and starts to stalk off down the hall way.

I get up and follow him down the hall. He stops with a start and I plow into his back. He opens a door and points inside.

"Here it is." He doesn't look at me.

A wave a guilt runs through me and when I try to shake it off it gets worse.

"I'm sorry...' I whisper to Shane and his head whips around to look at me.

"Don't be sorry." He sighs and puts his hand to his face. "I was worried. Your my tribute and I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'm your tribute? What's that supposed to mean?" I look at him confused.

"When two mentors are available in a district each mentor picks a tribute. Each one specifically mentors their tribute. I picked you." He looks at me guilt in his eyes.

I try to think of what to say but my mind is blank. I'm not sure how I feel about this fact but I smile. At least I have someone who cares about me in this place.

"So is that why Claires not talking to me?" I ask him.

"She doesn't like to get in the way of the others training methods so she try's not to talk to much to the other tribute. It's sort of the same with me but if you try to talk to her she'll talk back. But she will always be with Charlie." I think about trying to talk to Claire, after all I did like her way more then Shane when we first met but being near Charlie scares me.

"Well thanks for clearing that up, also I need to talk to you about Charlie after training. It starts today right?" He looks confused and nods.

I smile at him and head into my room closing the door behind me. I hear his feet walk off towards the sitting area. I take a deep breath and walk towards the dresser. The room looks the same as the one on the train but one wall is completely made of glass. There's a bath room with a shower that has so many buttons! I decide before I get dressed for breakfast I'll take a shower. Training starts at ten so I have a good two hours to get ready. I walk to the shower and look at the buttons. I don't understand what they say so I press them at random and step in. I end up with a hot shower and shop that makes me smell like water lilies. I step out of the shower after a while. Once I stop on a mat just outside of the shower I get dried off by fans. I get my hair dried by a machine attached to the wall. I walk into my room and find that someone has layed an outfit on the bed. I put it on and look at myself in the mirror. The outfit is a black pair of pants with a black top. On the top there is a light blue line going down each arm. Walking back into the bathroom I put up my hair into a high ponytail. I have to give my stylist credit. The blue in my outfit makes my eyes look bigger and brighter. I take a deep breath and walk outside the door. I'm ready to face everyone. I get to the table and everyone's already eating. I grab an apple and sit down with them.

"Not going to eat anything?" Shane looks at me puzzled.

"Nah, I've never really liked breakfast." He shrugs his shoulders and keeps eating.

The rest of the meal we eat in silence. I eat my apple then get up from the table.

"I'm going to head downstairs early and wait." Without waiting for an answer I walk towards the elevator.

As I press the button marked 'TR' for training room my stomach does nervous somersaults. I try to take deep breaths and clear my mind. This is the first time we will actually be in the same room together. First time we will be able to talk to each other. You never really find out what happens when the tributes meet. I get to the training room floor faster then I would have liked. The elevator doors open and I see I'm not the first one here. There are five other tributes here. The both tributes from district one and two and Christan. He's standing by himself waiting. I see him and smile. At least I won't be alone right now.

**Thanks for reading! Please review so I can make it better! Also thanks to 15 for the review! **


	11. Chapter 11

I see him and smile as I start to walk towards him but then I remember were I am. All the people around me need to be dead for me to go home. I'm not here to make friends. If I want to win I have to stay away from him. I turn away from him and walk towards the door to the training room to wait. I can hear the tributes from one and two talking to each other and I decide to ignore them. If I don't bother them and they won't bother me.

"Hey you ginger girl!" I look around and see the girl from district 1 girl, Glimmer if I can remember, looking at me laughing.

I squint my eyes trying to figure out what 'ginger' means. Back home it's a spice so I can't seem to figure out why they're calling me that.

"Yeah you!" She's shouting at me but I want nothing to do with it so I just turn my back and try to ignore her.

"Hey freak!" This strikes a nerve.

When I was a kid right after my mom left. The kids at school would bully me. And call me a freak. I remember always going home in tears. They didn't stop until I fought back it just took awhile for me to realize it.

"What?" I turn and snap at her.

"Awh look! She responds to freak! So is that your name? Freak?" The rest of the careers laugh.

I can feel anger boiling up inside me and I try to push it down. I need to calm down. They'll go away if I don't react, they'll just get bored.

"So freak? No one in your district love you enough to volunteer? Are you just some motherless fre-" She doesn't get a chance to finish that sentence because I throw myself at her pinning her to the ground.

She trys to knock me off but I grab her hair and pull. She knee's me in the gut and I fall off her. She stand up and starts to laugh when I jump at her knees causing her to fall to the ground. I go to punch her when I feel someone's arms go around my middle and pulls me off of her. I kick out at Glimmer and she scrambles away from me in distress. I try to knock off the person holding me thinking it's another career when Glimmer shouts at me,

"Your lucky your boyfriend was here to save you! Next time you won't be so lucky!"

Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend. That's when it hits me, the only other boy here that isn't a career is...

"What were you thinking?!" Someone spins me around and I'm face to face with a very angry looking Christan. "Fighting is illegal! Do you know what they could do to you?"

He's shouting at me but I can't figure out why he cares, we are supposed to kill each other.

"Why do you care what I do? We talked once! ONCE! That doesn't make you responsible for me! Why would you care anyways!?" I explode at him angry about what happened with Glimmer and at him for helping me.

"I helped you because I-" He starts shouting at me but he stops mid sentence.

"You what?" I glare at him.

"Nothing. It's nothing." His voice get softer and he looks away from me.

I just glare at him then storm off in the other direction. By the time we stopped fighting the rest of the tributes have shown up and they are gathering around the door. I stomp over and half listen to what the trainer is saying. Die from disease and from dehydration blah blah blah. But when she say that fighting with other tributes is forbidden I glace around looking for Christan and find him staring at me. I quickly look down and try to hind the wave of guilt running through me. He stuck his neck out for me and I got angry with him. Making a mental note to apologize to him when I get the chance, I turn back to the instructor and see that she is done talking and the tributes are all filing into the training center.

I step in and gasp. Never before have I seen such a collection of weapons and survival stations in one place. I'm so used to my dad teaching me one thing at a time, one lesson a day. This is like everything I've ever learnt, plus more, crammed into one huge room. My eye light up when I see the plant identification station. I think of my last lesson with my dad and walk as fast as I can over to it.

I press a button on the large keyboard covered in silhouetted pictures of plants. The screen above lights up with a scale on difficulty. Easy, medium, and hard, I think for a second before selecting the medium level. The screen goes black again for a minute before lighting up again with a question.

"There are forty-eight plants on the keyboard." It read "By looking at only the silhouettes, find with plants are poisonous."

I scan the keyboard for a second. Then press the go key. The screen lights up with an enlarged version of the the keyboard. Smiling to myself I start pressing buttons. The plants look familiar even silhouetted. Soon enough my fingers are flying arcoss the keys clicking the pictures of the plants. In five minutes flat I've cleared the level. I grin at my success and look around to see what I should do next. All the other tributes were occupied doing their own thing. I look around for something to do when I spot some tributes lined up near a obstacle course like thing. I walk over and see that it requires gymnastics and that a lot of tributes are failing at it. I walk over and try to remember what I know about gymnastics.

Before my mom left she thought me a few gymnastics moves and I tried to keep going after she left. My dad didn't really know what to teach me so I had to learn for myself. I don't know if what I've taught myself is real or not but I hope it will be enough to get me sort of noticed.

I stand in the line behind the district 8 girl and try to see around her. From what I can see the obstacle course has a long set of monkey bars, a rope ladder that reaches the ceiling, there's a room that I can't see inside of and finally a large stretch of mat. I look for the person doing the obstacle course now and see a girl squimering on the mats like she's covered in bugs. One of the trainers pulls her to the side and injects something into her arm. She losses consensus for a minute, then comes to standing up and walking away as if nothing happened.

I watch the girl from 8 step up shaking. She makes it across the monkey bars and half way up the rope ladder when it starts to swing. She starts to scramble up the ladder and shrieks when she falls to the ground. The trainer comes over to her helps her up and motions for me to start. I take a deep breath and reach up for the monkey bars. I get across four when the bars start to get slippery. I don't mean my hands are sweaty, I mean that the bars are greased. I try to get across as fast as I can but my hand slips and I'm sure I'm going to fall. I hear a laugh from behind me. I reach up with my hand and grab onto the bar again. I try to see who's laughing at me but I only catch a glimpse of long blonde hair. Glimmer. I can't fail with her watching me. She'll destroy me. I start to swing back and forth on the bar until I have enough momentum to swing myself to the next section. I let go of the bar somersaulting in the air until I land of my feet in front of the rope ladder. I turn around and smirk at Glimmer. She's staring at me mouth half open in confusion. I turn to the rope ladder and start to climb up it. I get to about the same point the district 8 girl when the rope ladder start to swing back and forth. That's when I realize that this whole obstacle course must be rigged to cause the tributes to fail. I scramble up the rope ladder and end up falling over the other side. I slam into the ground landing on my back. I feel the air rush out of my lungs and I roll over groaning. The trainer comes over to me and I push him away.

"I'm fine." I gasp and force myself to stand up.

The trainer backs away and I stumble towards the room and open the door. I step inside and the door slams behind me. I turn around and twist the door knob but it's locked. Suddenly the room fills with a green gas and my vision goes blurry. They're trying to kill me. That's all I can think when I collapse on the ground. Suddenly there's a light through the murky green fog. I drag myself towards it and see it's the door out. I drag myself to my feet. I start to walk to the end of the mats, wondering what the room was for. That's when the spiders show up. They crawl over the edge of the mat and towards my legs I try to run but my head is spinning. The spiders crawl onto my legs and that's when I get a good look at them. They are about the size of my palm, pure black except for three bright yellow lines down its back. It's crawling up my arms and I'm trying to desperately brush them off when my feet get tangled and I fall on my side. I try to shake the spiders off when the trainer grabs me under the arms and pulls me off the the side. I feel a sharp pain in my arm and something cold run through my body. Suddenly I blink and the spiders are gone.

"What was that?" I look at the trainer in fear.

"It's just a poison from a flower extract." He doesn't even look at me.

"And why did you do that?" I ask.

"Can't tell you training secret. Move on" He still doesn't look at me just watches the next tribute.

I roll my eyes and stand up and see all the tributes filling in for lunch. I follow them into the lunch room and see a buffet filled with fruit, pastries, meat, sandwiches, and even some food I don't know the name of. I grab a try and stand in line behind the district 3 boy. I fill my tray up with water, an apple, bread with butter and a fruity pastry thing. I walk to a empty table and sit by myself. I start to eat when I hear the chair next to me scrap back. Out of the corner of my eye I see a tray pilled with food placed next to me. I squint my eyes in confusion and look at who it is. Not to my surprise I see Christan sitting next to me.

"Yes?" I look at him eye brows raised.

"What? I can't sit with you?" He doesn't look at me, just watches his food.

"Well, I guess you can but..." I can't quite find the words to explain what I'm thinking.

"But what? I want to sit with you so I will." He still doesn't look at me but I can tell that something up.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you being like this?" I want to smack him in the head.

He doesn't answers my question he just keeps eating. I glare at him but start eating as well, I still have half a day of training left. After a very awkward half hour lunch we are all told to go back into the training centre. I stand up from the table and start to walk away when Christan grabs my hand.

"I'll explain everything tonight. Meet me in the training centre at ten. Okay?" He looks me in the eyes with a sort of pleading look.

I look into his eyes and I feel my heart melt. I can't figure out what I'm feeling so I just nod. He smiles at me and lets go of my hand. I turn on my heel and walk briskly towards the training centre.

Why did my heart melt? Why do I feel so confused about him? I just met him. We're in a game were we have to kill each other! And I'm going crazy over the mysterious boy from district 10! I feel like pulling my hair out in frustration. I can't like him! I don't even know him! But for all I know, and feel, I really do like him. I'm so confused about him! This has to be just a 'I'm about to die and I haven't even had a boyfriend yet' thing. I must have just picked the first really amazing looking guy from the reaping and started liking him. It's just happened to be Christan. I just happened to look into his glittering hazel eye and fell... STOP! Stop this Christan business!

I shake my head and stalk over to the spear throwing area. I just need to thinking about him. I pick up a light wooden spear with a silver arrow head on it and throw it as hard as I can. It flies through the air and hits the dummy in the shoulder. My mouth drops to the ground as I stare at the dummy. I can't believe I actually hit it! I pick up a slightly smaller spear and throw it. It flies through the air again then hits the dummy in the heart. I try to hold in all of my happiness that I actually hit it. I grin and throw one more. A stone shaft with a thick metal head. It flies and hits the dummy in the abdomen. The reality hits me when I see I really have a chance. I walk over to the sword section hoping my luck is as good in this section as it was in the last. Unfortunately I'm not.

I pick up a sword and immediately know it's almost to heavy for me to carry. I swing it clumsily at a dummy and sort of slice it in the arm but it barley leave a dent. I squint at it then go back and pick a slightly lighter sword. I walk back to the dummy and try to slice at it neck but the sword is still to heavy for me to lift it over my head.

I drop the sword and walk away from that section. I spend the rest of the afternoon in the knot tieing area. Somewhere I know I can succeed. Then afternoon passes fast and I don't look up from my knot or think about Christan. By the time we are pushed towards the elevators I have cleared my mind and decided that I don't like Christan. I've decided that by the end of tonight I'll have everything cleared up and I'll be able to kill him if I need to. When the elevator stops at my floor I get off and see Shane and Claire sitting at the table talking.

"How was your first day?" Shane jumps from the table when he see's me.

"It was good! I learnt I can throw a spear!" I grin at him proud of what I can do and my possible chances.

"Good job." He gives me a hug and whispers in my ear "I'm glad I picked you."

I can't help but smile at his words and I walk off towards my room. I get there and collapse on the bed. I really do have a chance! Don't count me out yet panem I can still win this! I take a shower and dress into some track pants and a tank top.

I walk back out of my room and see Charlie sitting with Clarie on the couches talking. I check the clock on the wall and see that's it's 5:30.

"Are we really in training that long?" I look over at Shane who is sitting at the table eating.

"Yup, a good seven hours, also you wanted to talk?" He look at me in a knowing sort of way.

"Oh.. Yeah umm... We do need to talk but..." My good mood plummets as I remember what Charlie said.

"Let's talk now okay?" I nod as he stand from the table walks onto the hidden balcony we apparently have.`

I step out on the balcony and the view takes my breath away. The buildings as tall as the sky in all different colours.

"So? Charlie?" He looks at me and suddenly I'm over come with how stupid my fear is.

This is the hunger games. He's supposed to want to kill me. What was I thinking?

"Um... Nevermind it's fine." I say turning on my heel and staking off with my face beet red.

I stay in my room past dinner and eat things by ordering them from an avox. I can't face them. I don't want to see the looks he will give me, or if he told Claire the looks she'll give me. And if she knows, she probably told Charlie, then to him I'll become an even bigger target then before.

I wait around for a few hours until I hear everyone go to bed at around nine. I walk to my closet and change into a pair of dark skinny jeans and a red v-neck t-shirt. At 9:45 I sneak out of my room towards the elevator. It opens silently and I step inside pressing the TR button. The elevator stops at the training room and I step out.

"Christan?" I call already forming what I'm going to say to him in my head.

I see a shadow round a corner and I grin. Soon I will have a clear conscious, and I will be able to fight. Walk to the shadow and round the corner.

"Christan are you the-" The rest of the words don't escape my mouth.

I'm spun around and my back is slammed against the wall. Someone is holding me there and then they're kissing me. Then I notice it's Christan. My heart does flips and I start kissing him back. That's when I realize that I don't have everything figured out.

**Alright! So I've descided that instead of post short chapters everyday I'm going to post a long chapter every week. Also now that school has started I might be a little delayed in my posting, but thanks you for the reveiws!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

I feel him slam me against the wall and holding my arms above my head. My eyes slide closed as he presses himself against me. I wiggle my arms free and wrap them around his neck pulling him closer. He wraps his arms around my waist locking me in his arms. I feel his lips pressing against mine, chapped and dry, but oddly comforting and familiar. We stay like this for a while, until I come to my senses and gently push him away.

"And what was that?" I ask raising my eyebrows at him.

"A kiss." He reply's with a half smirk.

I laugh and lean against the wall behind me, resting my arms around his neck again. He tightens his grip around my waist and he starts to trace patterns with his fingertips on the small of my back.

"Yes it was a kiss but here, of all places? Why?" I look at him watching him try and work out an answer.

"Because, ever since I first saw you when I was watching the reapings over again, I knew I wanted to kiss you. And I am so happy I did." He smile at me and softly kisses me on the lips.

I stare into his eyes and try to figure out what to say, I've never had a boyfriend or been kissed for that matter and I was never good with thinking of what to say. Lucky for me he picks up the ball and get the conversation started.

"You have really pretty eyes." He whispers to me.

I laugh and look down, I always hated being praised and complimented. I feel his hand under my chin gently lifting my head up.

"I really mean it." He kisses me on the nose and I rest my forehead against his chest.

"I still don't understand why, why now? All but one of us is going to be dead, and you probably want it to be you. So why did you do this? Why get involved and complicate things?" I'm sure my words are muddled but I guess he can hear me.

"Because I don't plan on winning. I don't have anything to go back home to. And because I know I'm going to die anyways, so why not be with someone I like before I do." As he speaks his fingers trace swirls up and down my back.

"But you have a family your dad and your sisters! What about them?" I look at him confused.

"I know I'm not going to make it back, and if I do go back there won't be anything for me to go back to. I don't have my family anymore." He looks over his shoulder so he can't look me in the eye.

"But you told me..." I break off my sentence half way.

"I said that he went to the capitol and fixed things. Well he did but he died a few months before the reaping. Him and my sisters. It was a house fire." He still won't look at me.

I try to think of something to say but my words escape me. I feel his hands turn to fists on my back then relax again but they've stopped tracing the patterns. I reach my hands up and put them on ether side of his face. I feel hot tears running over my fingers, but he still hasn't looked down. I gently turn his face to look at me but his eyes are filled with tears. I push myself onto my tip toes and kiss him softly on the mouth. I close my eyes as I kiss him softly. He kisses me back but he's still crying. I can fell his tears falling on my face. His arms wrap around my rib cage and he pulls me close. I'm still on my toes when I feel the muscles in my legs start to ache. I try to hold myself up but eventually my legs give way and I almost collapse. Christan catches me and laughs.

"Am I really that breath takingly amazing?" He asks with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Maybe" I say with a smile.

My eyes travel to the clock on the opposite wall and see that it's almost one o'clock.

"Ummm... Christan? We might want to go soon." I say.

He gives me a confused and slightly hurt look. I point over his shoulder. He turns his head and see's the time then turns around and smiles.

"Do we have to? I was having such a good time." He says with a sly grin and he moves his face towards mine again.

"No." I say with a laugh and push him away from me "We have to go now"

I grab his hand and pull him towards the elevator. I press a button and the doors slide open. We step inside and I press the ten and five buttons. The doors close and the elevator starts sliding up. I hear the ding of the door and Christan spins me around and kisses me lightly on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He says as I step out of the elevator flustered.

I hear the doors slide shut as I walk towards my room. What did I just do? I angry at myself but so happy at the same time. I guess a part of me knew that I liked him, ever since I saw him at the reaping re-cap. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. But now that I have I feel awful. I just ruined my whole chance of making it out of that arena. Even if I do make it out I will never be able to let him go. If my sister was here she would laugh at me and say

"It's just a crush Celia, you don't even know him" but I feel like it's something more.

I really like him, even if I don't know him. I've never fell in love with a boy before but I'm sure if I knew the feeling, this would be close. Everytime I look at him I feel my stomach flip, and I never want to leave him.

I get inside my room and fall on the bed. Funny how last time I was here I thought I had everything figured out, and now I'm here again more confused then ever. I worm my way under the sheets, not even bothering to change, and try to sleep. Much to my surprise I fall asleep almost instantly, but my dreams are plagued with Christan.

I'm woken up by a sharp rap at my door. I groan rolling over and try to grab on to the strands of sleep slowly slipping from my grasp. I push myself up in bed and swing my legs over the side. I stretch my arms and yawn widely. The second day of training. I push off of the bed and walk towards the kitchen my stomach rumbling. I see Claire sitting and eating a plateful of scrambled eggs. I grab a plate and fill it with toast with jam, fried eggs, extra crispy bacon, little fried potato things and a ton of assorted fruit. Waiting for me at the table is a tall glass of orange juice. I sit next to Claire and start shovelling food into my mouth. Our of the corner of my eye I see her look at me then look back at her food. I suddenly realize how awkward this breakfast just might be. I just stared eating my eggs when a tired looking Shane sits down at the table, clearly still in his pajamas.

"Good morning sleepy head!" I say trying, unsuccessfully, to not laugh.

"...Coffie..." Is all he mumbles back.

I laugh then set back to work eating my food. Charlie joins us about a half hour before we have to head down the the training room, but lucky for me I have just finished my breakfast. I push my chair away from the table while downing my glass of orange juice. I walk to my room and see my training outfit lying on the bed. It's the same one from yesterday but this one looks clean. I walk past it and to the shower, I press some buttons and step inside. I'm in the shower for ten minutes, then I quickly dry my hair and get changed. I pull my hair into a tight bun at the top of my head. I walk back towards the kitchen to tell everyone I'm leaving now, but when I get there only Charlie is sitting at the table. He's wearing his training uniform, I panic and try to silently back out of the room but a floor board creaks under my foot. His head spins around and he smirks when he see's me.

"I see your ready to go to! We should ride together!" I gives me and evil smirk and starts walking towards me.

I stumble back trying to think of an excuse as to why I can't go yet when he grabs my elbow, hard. I yelp in surprise and pain when he starts dragging me to the elevator. He punches the down button and shoves me into the elevator when it shows up. Much to my disappointment there's no one in the elevator and I'm left alone with doors slide closed right as he throws me against the wall, he press his forearms against my neck and uses the other to press the training room button.

"What's this I hear about you wanting to talk to Shane? About me?" His face is only a few inches away from mine and I can feel his breath on my face.

"I...didn't... Say anything..." I try to chock out but his arm is cutting off my air supplies and I can't manage to get it off.

"Good. Because if you did, I might just have to break one of the only rules in the hunger games." He smirks at me again and I shudder with fear.

I see him glare then slam my head against the wall of the elevator. My vision fills with dark spots and I fall on the ground my head spinning. He scoffs as he steps over me to the elevator door, which is now open. The door slides closed again but I'm still lying on the ground, my head throbbing and my vision still not entirely up to par. I feel the elevator lurch upwards slightly my stomach lurches with it and I feel some slight nausea. The door opens but I can't tell who it is. They bend down in front of me and pick me up from my arm pits. They place me on my feet but have to hold me to keep me steady.

"What happened to you?" I hear a voice say but my vision is to blurry to make out a face.

"What?" I manage to mumble.

"Celia, What happened?" My vision clears a little and I'm able to almost focus on the face in front of me.

It's Christan, and thank god it is. If it wasn't I would be in a lot of trouble. And I'd have to explain to some other random tribute that I don't really want to get to know. I've screwed myself over enough by getting to know Christan already.

"Umm... It's nothing. I just slipped and hit my head." I give him a weak smile and I try not to let my fear show.

He looks at me unbelieving but nods anyway. I steady myself and blink until my vision clear. My ears are still ringing and my head is throbbing but I'm sure I'll live. At least for now. Christan presses the training room button and the elevator shoots down.

"Just so you know we're about twenty minutes late." Christan says to me not looking away from the wall.

I don't answer, just give a sharp nod. I know he's being cold because no one can know about what happened but it still hurts and makes me angry. I cross my arms as the elevator stops and lets us out on the training room floor. I march from the elevator as soon as the doors open not gives myself a sec to look back at him.

I march through the door, ignoring the stares and snickers from the careers. The gamemakers give me questioning looks too but I try my hardest to ignore them. I walk over to the spear throwing sections and start to throw them. One...two...three. Each hitting different spots in the dummies abdomen. I watch the gamemaker near me raise his eyebrows then walk away. I glare at the dummy and throw another spear. I turn around and start to walk away before I see were it hit. I hear a twang signifying that the spear hit the dummy but don't turn around. I need to learn something else.

I walk around the room for a bit until my eyes fall on a cross bow section. There's no one at that station and the trainer looks bored. I waltz over and pick up the first cross bow my hands reach. I grab an arrow from a line up near by and try to load it. I try and fail for a while, until the trainer finally realizes that there is someone is here. He grabs the cross bow out of my hands and shows my how to load it without saying a word. I glare at him again then aim for the target. I pull the trigger and the arrow goes flying but the cross bow fly's back and hits me painfully in the shoulder. I gasp in pain then look to see were the arrow landed. My heart falls when I see the arrow sticking out of the far wall. At least three meters away from where I was aiming. I grab another arrow from the rack and angrily reload it. I aim again and prepare myself for the kick-back. I pull the trigger and send another arrow flying. The cross bow kicks back again, and I wince, but the arrow once again fly's away from the dummy.

I glower and toss the cross bow aside. I stalk off still angry. I'm being stupid. He can't attack like we were together last night because the other tributes would mark us as weak, easily overcome by our emotions. But it still makes me angry. I walk over to the knot tieing section and sit down next to the boy from district 8. He looks at me for only a second before going back to his complicated looking knot. I pick up a piece of rope lying in front of me and start to try to follow what the instructor is saying. It looks like he's making a net but I'm not a hundred percent sure. After a half hour of this we are told to stop and go eat. I walk out of the training centre and see what looks like the same set up as yesterday, so I grab a tray and line up with the rest of the tributes. I end up having a moon shaped bread thing, some squares of cheese, a small bowl of fruit and a glass of milk. I walk over to an empty table and sit down. I start to eat when I feel a wad of paper hit the back of my head.I turn around to see who hit me but everyone else is eating as well. I bend down and grab the wad of paper and slowly unravel it. Inside I see a note written in neat printing.

_Same time tonight?_

_-C_

I smile at the paper then tuck it into my pocket. I nod in hope that Christan is looking because I am defiantly up for it.

**Thanks for all the reveiws! and sorry if I can't respond to you via message but I am still super grateful!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the day goes by quickly I'm in such a good mode I stay by the plant identification area for most of the day. When it's time to go back to our rooms I line up by the elevators with the others. I look over at Christan and see that he's looking over at me. I smile at him and he winks. I feel my face heat up then we step into the elevator and I'm glad he doesn't have to see me embarrassed. The elevators stop at my floor and I leave still in my good mood. Then I run into Shane.

"I know what you did last night." He says in a very serious tone.

"Slept?" I ask trying to keep my cool but I feel my good mood falling.

"No. You snuck out. I don't know why but I wont let you do it again." He never takes his eyes off my face.

"I didn't sneak out! And even if I did you wouldn't be able to stop me." I say getting angry.

"Yes I would. I will not! Let you leave again!" He starts shouting at me now.

"I will leave if I want to!" I shout back.

"I won't let you die because of something stupid! I promised I'd take care of you!"

"What! Who did you promise?" I shout back.

He looks like he's trying to decide wether to tell me or not.

"Tell me!" I shout again.

"Your sister! I promised your sister." His voice softens so he's not shouting at me anymore.

"My sister? But you don't even..." My voice trails off as I try to think of how he could have met my sister.

"Your sister and I are together and...and she's having my baby." I feel my eye's widen.

"But your... and she..?" I try to put two and two together but I can't seem to figure it out.

"Your sister and I went to the same school until I won the games. But I always loved her."

He looks at me waiting for me to say something but I just storm past him. He grabs my arm as I try to pass him.

"Let. Me. Go." I say then yank my arm from his grasp.

"Celia wait." He says but I just keep walking.

I'm angry again, for no reason. He thinks he's responsible for me because of my sister! So what he wouldn't have taken care of me if it wasn't for her. I get to my room and step inside slamming the door behind me. I hear a knock on the door followed by Shane trying to talk to me again.

"Celia. Get out here we need to talk! Please!" His voice sounds so desperate and upset.

I walk to the door and pull it open.

"There's nothing to talk about! You picked me so you could keep your promise to my sister well guess what! Your off the hook!" I go to slam the door but he hold out his hand and catches it.

"No. I want to keep you alive! Not just for your sister." I glare at him but he doesn't break. "You need to win, because you need to go back to your family. And I know you can win. I've seen what you're doing before. And I know it's about a boy, don't throw your chances of winning out the window for a boy who you should be hoping, dies."

I look at him and try to work it out in my head. He knows but he doesn't understand because he's worth it. I don't want to be without him.

"Okay." I say and put on the best smile I can manage "I won't go back."

"Good" He say's. He nods then walks away.

I close the door and smile to myself. I am defiantly going back there. I decide to take a shower because frankly I smell awful. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the shower. As soon as I step in I'm relaxed. Shane totally bought that I wasn't going to meet Christan tonight, but in all honesty I've never been more excited to see him. After my shower I pull on a pair of jeans and a red shirt and walk outside the room looking for something to do. I end up in the tv room flicking through channels, I find a fashion channel and just laugh at the really horrible outfits that show up on the screen. But after a while I mostly just doze in and out of sleep. I'm so tired today it almost unbelievable. I'm going to need to leave early tonight then I did yesterday, no matter how much I don't want to. I have to be well rested for private training tomorrow. I think it would be important to try to do well and that starts with sleep. I wake up because of Shane lightly shaking my shoulder.

"Celia? It's dinner, are you going to wake up and eat?" He says softly.

"Maybe." I say and stretch.

I push myself up and follow Shane into the dinning room. I sit down at the table next to him and rub my eyes. I guess I'm still really tired. I load my plate with lamb chops in a purple dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, corn, carrots and two fully little biscuit. I'm poured a glass of red wine, milk and orange juice, which I have grown a great liking to. I start eating while Claire starts talking about private training.

"Tomorrow as you know is private training. You need to show something your really good at, be it brute strength, cunning or intelligence. But stay away from the survival skills. That will get you no where. They want to that you can slaughter a tribute, well." She looks at me and Charlie then Shane pipes in.

"Just do your best. Everyone knows that the scores don't even matter. It's just who survives to the top ten. So do your best." He looks at us and smiles reassuringly.

Claire glares at him for contradicting her then turns her attention to her food. apparently she doesn't care if we die. We eat the rest of the meal in mostly silence except for the occational car that passes on the street. When I finish I excuse myself and head to my room egar to get ready to see Christopher. I quickly shower and can into a pair of deep blue jeans and a soft green shirt. I end up sitting a waiting for about two hours. When I hear the last person go to bed and see the hall light turn off I quietly open the door and sneak out of my room. I creep across the floor, though I don't need to none of these floorboards squeak. I get to the elevator and press the down button. I smile to myself glad that my genius plan work when I'm tackled and sent flying through the air. I hit the ground and all the air is knocked out of my. I go to scream for help when my aslant presses his hand over my mouth silencing my crys.

"You promised me." I hear then I know who's tackled me.

I bite his hand and he yelps then let's go.

"Shane! You have no right to stop me!" I try to get up then a realise he's sitting on me "Get off!"

"No! Your going back to your room and staying there!" He says angrily.

"Make me!" I say and try to toss him off of me but it's no use, he's to heavy.

"Oh. I will." He says angrily then in one swift movement he's stood up, tossed me on his shoulder and is walking back to my room holding me captive.

"Put me down!" I shout banging my fists on his back.

"Once we get to your room." He says.

He opens the door tosses me in, I end up doing a flip and landing on my feet, then he slams it behind me. I run to the door and twist the doorknob. Much to me surprise I can turn it meaning it's not locked. I go to push the door open but it won't budge, even when I press all of my weight against it. That's when I realise he must have locked me in here.

"Let me out Shane!" I call out.

"Nope!" I realise his voice is surprisingly near by, meaning that he's leaning against the door.

"Shane! Get away from the door and let me out!" I cry out again, he can't possibly stay there forever.

I spend a while trying to break the open but it's no use, it's like pressing against a wall. I eventually sit against the door and decide to wait him out. He has to fall asleep at some point. But before I can wait for him to fall asleep, I doze off.

I wake up to a bright light in my eyes. I stretch and wince at the pain in my back. That's when I remember what happened. Jumping to my feet I run to the door and push against it with all my might. Much to my surprise it swings open with ease. I'm about to run to the elevator when I'm stopped by Shanes outstretched arm.

"It's too late. It's morning an hour to training." He says this with no satisfaction or amusement, but for some reason this makes me angry.

"Why did you stop me!" I turn at him and shout, but he doesn't anwser, he just turns and walks towards his room.

I feel my eyes well up with tears as I turn to walk back to my room. When I get inside I fall to the ground sobbing, hot, wet tears stream down my face and sobs shake me. I try to calm myself down by telling myself that Christan has to understand. I wanted to go with him, but Shane stopped me. He has to understand. I push myself up off the floor and stumble towards the bathroom. I turn on the shower and step in. I'm in there for about a half hour before I stop finally crying. I leave the shower, putting my hair in a bun on the top of my head and changing into my training outfit. I force a smile on my face, I won't let Shane think he beat me. I walk over to the table not letting my smile waver. I keep repeating to myself _you can do this, don't stop smiling_. I sit down at the table and start to nibble on a piece of toast, my appetite has disappeared.

"So today is private training," Says Shane with a smile, "I know you both will do really well, just try your hardest."

Charlie and I both nod, we don't need a high score. But personally I feel like he's just trying to make us feel better. If we get a high score, we get sponsors. But if I know Shane he could sweet talk anyone into sponsoring me. I push myself from the table, all will to eat vanished at the thought of private training, and walk to the elevator.

"I'm going to go to the training room!" I call over my shoulder as I step in the elevator.

Once inside I start to try to think of what I could possibly say to Christan. _Sorry I skipped last night, my mentor found out? _or _Sorry I didn't_ _show up I hope we can make up tonight?_ I'm think both idea's are pretty bad. The elevator doors open and I walk out. All the tributes are sitting on some benches waiting for private training to start. I don't see Christan yet so I go and sit by myself on a bench. I sit there for about twenty minutes before I see Christan walk through the door. He's yawning and has dark bangs under his eyes making me wonder how long he had waited for me.

I have to refrain myself from jumping up, wrapping my arms around him and apologising over and over again. But I know I have to keep my cool. If I want him to hear me out it'll have to be when the private training starts. Christan walks pasts me not even looking over and sits with his back facing me. Oh I hope he's not mad. Within the next few minutes everyone was there and the private training started. They called the district 1 boy tribute first and he saunted into the room with a confident smile on his face. _Now my chance_. I stand up off my bench and walk over to the one Christan is sitting on, I quietly sit next to him. He looks over at me then moves away a bit making my heart sink. _I really am in trouble_.

"Listen, I need to explain." I whispered to him but by the look on his face I can tell he's angry.

"There's nothing to explain." He mumbles his eyes narrowed, "You didn't show up. You clearly aren't interested."

"Christan, listen. You need to understand. I need to explain." I try ,unsuccessfully, to push away the panic that is bubbling up inside of me.

"No Celia. You stood me up. Just leave me alone okay?" He turn to look at me, his eyes full of pain.

The Glimmer walks into the training room grinning evilly.

"Chirstan! Please let me explain! I wanted to go! But my mentor caught me sneaking out, and he locked me in my room! I couldn't get away but really I tried for hours! I couldn't get away though! I'm so so sorry!" I can barely see past the tears I'm trying to hold back.

"Your just trying to bait me aren't you? For the games! Your just stringing me along!" He turns on me and I see a tear stream down his face.

"No! Never!" I say as the district two boy walks into the training centre.

"Celia, just leave me alone okay. I just want to be alone." I watch as another tear rolls down his face and onto his lap.

I whimper and stand up off the bench, and walk back to where I was sitting before. I put my head in my hands and start to silently sob. When I lift my head again I see the district four girl heading into the training centre. My stomach drops when I realise that my turn is very quickly approaching. I wipe my eyes and take a deep breath. I steal a glance at Christan but he's not looking at me. I feel like my heart has dropped into my stomach, when they call for Charlie. He stands up and smirks at me then walks into the room. I go over my plan in my head. _Throw some spears, identify some plants. Don't screw up. _I take a few deep breaths and wait watching the clock hands for ten minutes. The wait seems endless and torturous but then they call my name. I take a deep breath then stand up and walk to the training room. I get there and there are gamemakers sitting on a balcony. They look down at me judgment clouding their eyes. My knees turn to jelly and I swallow hard.

"Celia Torrence, District five." I say trying to stop my voice from wavering.

The head gamemaker, who I notice has a wicked beard, nods and I walk over to the spears. I pick one up and my arm shakes at the sudden weight. I throw the spear and can already tell it's not going to hit the target. And I'm right. It sails past the dummy missing by about eight feet. I hear the gamemakers groan and my heart sinks. I throw one more but it bounces right off. _What is wrong with me!_ I jog over to the plant identification area and start-up the computer. I start the level and start to press the buttons as fast as I can, getting all of them right. I look behind me when I'm done and see that some of them are looking at me with mild interest.

"You may go." Says one of the gamemakers.

"Thank you for your time!" I say with a smile, feeling like I did better than I thought I would have.

I half walk half skip out of the room filled with pride. I get outside the door and see Christan glowering at me. I smirk and walk over to him bend over so my face is only inches away from his.

"I think I did well, so even you can't ruin my good mood." I say with a smile, then I take his face in my hands and give him a kiss "Consider that our goodbye."

His face is full of shock and I smirk again before walking away.

**FINALLY DONE THIS CHAPTER! I'm so sorry that it took so long I've just had alot to do right now but it's finally done so all is good! Please leave a review if you liked it and I will respond!**


	14. Chapter 14

I saunter away from him towards the elevator, grinning happily. That went way better than expected and I can't wait to tell Shane. I get to my floor and Charlie is sitting on the couch fuming. Claire is beside him trying to calm him down but by the look on his face his private training didn't go to well. I grin at this then head into the kitchen where I'm sure I'm going to find Shane. And sure enough there he is sitting at the table, a slice of cake in front of him. He looks up and see me standing there grinning like an idiot.

"I take it things went well." He says smiling.

"Yes!" I thought things were going to be horrible but I think I at least got a six!" I smile proud of myself.

"That's great!" He says then his voice drops to a whisper "especially since Charlie probably only got a three."

"Why? What did he do?" I ask laughing.

"Well apparently he wasn't as good at swords as he thought. Like he could barely even pick it up." He says with a slight laugh.

"We shouldn't be laughing he's from district five too." I say over come with unessicary guilt.

"As far as I'm concerned, I just want to get you home to your family. I don't want my child to grow up with their aunt." He gives me a reassuring smile.

"Thanks." I murmur, feeling weirder out.

I sit down at the table next to him and order myself a piece of cake as well. We sit in silence for a while, eating cake, before I excuse myself to my room. I walk into my room and find a small sheet of paper sitting on my pillow. Frowning slightly I walk over to it. Once I get close enough to it I see that it's folded over with my name printed neatly on the front.I gingerly pick it up, half expecting it to jump up and bite me. Thankfully it doesn't, but when I read it my heart stops.

_Celia,_

_I believe you. Please meet me on the roof at three, I should be done my private training by then._

_-Christan_

My heart skips a beat and I want to do a happy dance, but then I realize what it really could be. A trick, he could try to push me off the roof, or yell at me. I silently decide that I shouldn't go. I've found closer and as long as I don't see him in the arena I'll be fine. I crumble up the note and look at the clock. 2pm, I take a deep breath and sit on the bed. This is going to be a long hour of trying to convince myself not to go. This plan _. ,_ up until the last five minutes. All I can think is _What if it's not a joke. I'm not really over him I really do want to see him again. I want to go but he might just leave me there. I should go._ After four minutes of debating I decide to go. I quickly change into a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. I peer out of my door and see everyone sitting in front of the tv. I can't tell what they're watching but I know I'll be fine so long as I'm back before the private training scores go up I should be fine.

I tiptoe towards the elevator and silently press the open button. The doors open with a quiet swish noise. I glance around the corner and see that they haven't moved. Jumping into the elevator I press the roof button and the elevator starts to rise. I grin when I realise that I got away with it and I get to see Christan again.

The elevator lets me off on the roof and I look around. When I see he's not here I start to panic. _Did he stand me up? He did say he was going to be late._ I'm about to just turn around and go back when I see another slip of paper placed neatly at my feet held under a small round stone. I bend over a pick it up, once again my name is printed neatly on the front. When I open it I burst into a smile. Inside is an arrow pointing towards a stone path into the roof top garden. It says nothing inside, just the arrow. I grin and walk off towards the path. I get to a cross-road and there's another note balanced on a tree branch. Inside is an arrow pointing to the left with a note underneath.

_This way to the biggest idiot in the_ _world._

I giggle quietly and head left. I walk for a few minutes surrounded by lush green tree's that reach way over my head and brightly coloured flowers near my feet. If I wasn't so excited to see Christan I probably would stop to admire them. I get to a clearing at the end of the path and see Christan standing with his back to me.

"Christan?" He turns around at the sound of my voice.

"Hey." He says walking towards me "If you're looking for the biggest idiot, you're looking at him."

I laugh, "Why?"

"Because I can't believe that I didn't believe you. And I know, that even though I won't be making it out of that arena, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No matter how short that is. So what I'm trying to say is, that I'm sorry." He looks at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen and my heart melts.

I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his neck.

"I forgive you." I say and kiss him lightly on the mouth.

"Thanks god!" He gives a huge sigh of relief and wraps his arms around my waist "I will never make that mistake again."

He gives me a kiss and my eyes well up with tears. I never want to lose him, and now I have to.

"What's wrong?" He asks as a tear escapes out of my eye and crawls down my face.

"I can't keep you, I don't want to lose you. But now I have to and I don't know what I'll do if it's just the two of us in the end." I say as he wipes the tear from my face.

"As long as I'm with you, I won't let anything hurt you. You will win. I promise not to let anything hurt you." He kisses my forehead but this just makes me cry harder.

"But I don't want to be by myself again. I don't want to be alone anymore." I try to hold back hysterics.

"But you're not alone. I'll always be with you. Your not alone." He pulls me close and I can hear his heart beating.

I can only think that soon I won't be able to hear this. I feel a few drops of what I first think is rain hit the top of my head. But when I look up I see that he's crying.

"Please don't cry. I care about you. This is something you shouldn't have to do. You should play your game, and forget about me. Please. I can't ask you to do this." I say.

"No. I've never been so sure about anything." He kisses me and strokes my hair telling me everything is going to be alright.

We end up sitting on the ground together my head on his shoulder, his arm around mine. We sit and talk for a long time, about everything. Home, our friends, the games, the capitol, almost everything. That's when I notice just how long we've been here.

"Christan! I have to go! The private training scores!" I jump to my feet and sprint to the elevator.

Christan follows at my heels until I stop at the elevator and jam the button. The elevator shows up and we step in and he press 5 and 10.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" He asks with a mischievous grin.

"I guess." I say with a smile as we get to his floor, he gives me a peck on the cheek then leaves the elevator and I start to move again.

When I get to my floor I creep into the eating area and pick away at a bun from my district.  
That's when Shane walks in.

"Were have you been?" He asks looking suspicious.

"In my room, I was napping." I say as casual as I can.

"For four hours?" He asks his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. I didn't get much sleep last night." I say trying to sound annoyed.

"Okay then. I just wanted to let you know the scores are going to be up soon." He turns and walks back towards the tv room and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

After of few seconds I follow Shane into the living room were the TV has just been turned on. On the screen is Ceaser Flickerman explaining the rules. I just doze through most of it until I hear Glimmers name and I narrow my eyes at the screen.

"Glimmer, with a score of... nine." I scoff and cross my arms.

They start to talk about the other people and I doze out again. Not super interested. Just as the district four girl fades out, Charlies face fades in.

"Charlie, with a score of... four." Charlie leaps from his seat and trys to attack the screen but Claire restrains him.

Charlies faces fades out and mine comes into view. My stomach does a flips as Ceaser starts to talk.

"Celia, with a score of... five." I give a whoop of happiness and grin.

I did way better than I thought I would! Shane gives me a pat on the back as we watch the rest of the scores. Most people get between a three and a seven. Then Christan comes onto the screen.

"Christan, with a score of... six." I hold down my happiness and try to act like I don't care, but I do, he did so well.

Then rest of the scores are the same until we get to district twelve.

"Katniss, with a score of... eleven." I hear Claire gasp as the TV turns off.

"No one ever gets a score the high!" She says out raged.

"Calm down Claire. It's no big deal." says Shane but I can tell he's just as shocked as her.

She glares at him and storms off Charlie following at her heels fuming.

"So are you happy with your score?" Shane asks.

"Yeah, I did better than I thought I would." I say trying to be optimistic.

"You need to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow is the interviews and we need to prepare you." He says.

"Okay, then I'm going to head to my room, and maybe sleep." I say as I turn and walk off.

I fast walk towards my room not daring to look over my shoulder. I know he suspected me of something but I won't go out tonight so that he can't say anything, because I know he'll be waiting for me again. When I get into my room I change into a pair pyjamas not bothering to shower. They will give me a full cleaning tomorrow anyways. I curl up under the covers of my bed and try to sleep but my thoughts bounce around in my head. Christan, the games, and wether or not I want to live without him. I've only just met him but I feel like I've known him forever.

I wake up when a clock beside my bed starts to buzz loudly. _Shane, I know you did this._ I cover my ears with my hands in an attempt to block out the shrieking sound. I groan loudly when I can't block out the sound. I throw myself at the clock and grab it off the nightstand. The time says its 7:30 in the morning. Way to early. I plow my way out of my room and towards Shane's. I pull open the door and see him asleep in bed. I chuck the clock with all my might at Shane and it hits his back with a dull thud. He's mumbles something then flips over and some how turns the clock off.

"I see your awake." He mumbles his head now under a pillow.

"No thanks to you." I say with a snarl.

"Well. I guess its time to start practicing." He says while pushing himself out of bed.

I groan the slouch back to my room. When I get there I change into some track pants and a sweater then pull my hair into a bun on the top of my head. I walk out of my room right as Shane is passing. He glances at me then motions me to walk with him towards the kitchen.

"I hope you're not hungry because we aren't going to eat untill after the first hour and a half of work." He says rubbing his eyes and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"What? Do I at least get a coffee?" I ask.

He thinks for a minute then fills a cup and hands it to me. I take a sip and wince at how bitter it is but drink it anyways. We sit at the table and spends a minutes just looking at me and sipping his coffee. After a while I get fed up.

"What are you doing?" I ask with a touch of sarcasm.

"I'm trying to find your look." He says very serious.

I feel my eyebrows knit together in confusion but he just laughs.

"You can't just be Celia! You have to be witty, sexy, smart, something like that. But your just sort of sarcastic. And the capitol people don't really like sarcastic." He explains.

"What! Why not! Can I be like smart or something?" I ask slightly outraged.

"Intelligent..." He says considering it "I never thought of that. Maybe we can work with it. We can try." He says optimistically.

"Great!" I say.

We spend half the day working on the intelligent angle. We work the angle until it's dead only stopping about two hours in for a small breakfast. After that we move onto walking and acting ellagent. Which quickly turns out to be a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. I am not graceful nor can I act like I am. Shane puts me in a tall pair of heels and tells me t try walking. But I fall many times. After a while I can almost walk gracefully in the heels when the dress comes up.

"Don't worry too much. I made sure that the dress will be knee level because out district has had previous problems with floor lengths dresses." He says.

I remember the girl a few years ago from district 5, she fell off the stage because of her dress.

"Thank you!" I say gratefully.

"But that means you have to keep your hands in your laps. At. All. Times. Or else everyone will see up your dress and we don't want that." He says laughing at me.

"Sounds good." I say with a sigh.

Sooner than I would have liked the time has come and my prep team whisk me away to get ready. We're prepping for what feels like ever. The re-paint my face in vibrant blues and greens. They change my skin to a soft porcelain and change my eyes to a sea green. They tell me not to touch my face then leave me alone to wait for my stylist. I sit and try to resist the urge to scratch my nose when Zeus walks in.

"I am just so excited to get to dress you up! Your like my little doll!" He says sweeping me into an awkward hug.

"Umm... Thanks?" I say unsure.

"I have the most amazing dress for you! You will love it! And it represents your district perfectly!" He says very enthusiastic.

He tells me to close my eyes and helps me into the dress. I feel the soft fabric grip my mid section and fray out at my knees. He helps me into a pair of semi-tall heels and guides me towards a mirror.

"Open your eyes." He says excitedly.

I open them and see someone who could be me, but seems almost to different. I smile at my look and spins in a slow circle.

"It's amazing thank you." I say smiling.

He smiles softly at me then we walk to where the interviews will take place. I stand in line behind the district four boy and Charlie in line. I find myself very calm, which shocks me greatly. The interviews start and there is a loud cheer from the crowd. The line slowly shortens and I get closer to my interview by the second. I hear from my spot Ceaser yelling.

"And now our district five girl, Celia Torrence!" The crowd cheers and I take my first step onto the stage.

**Thanks so much for waiting for this chapter! The games will start so soon and I'm super excited! Thanks for the reviews!  
**


	15. Chapter 15

The sound of the applause for the people in the crowd is almost defining, and I would be embarrassed, or maybe honoured, if I wasn't so nervous. As I try to resist the urge to wipe my sweaty palms off on my dress, I force a false grin onto my face. I quicken my pace so I can get to the seat before my knees have a chance to fail me, which they feel like they might do at any moment. Ceaser is stand just across the stage with his blue hair and lips, just as strange-looking as every but I try to pretend that he's not a capital citizen and I'm not being watched by everyone in the world right now. But thinking that just seems to make me worry more. After what feels like miles of awkward walking and smiling I finally reach my chair and Ceaser who is smiling at me with his blindingly white teeth.

"Hello Celia! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ceaser grins and holds out his hand to me.

I try to wipe my hand discreetly on my dress before reaching out grabbing his hand and shaking it, praying silently that I got all the sweat off.

"It's an honour to finally meet you to Ceaser!" I say the grin plastered on my face feels more natural now..

"And an honour to meet you! You have no idea how exciting it is to meet all the tributes every year! Please sit down, we have a lot to talk about but only a little time to do so." He gestures to the plush red chair next to me and sits in the one across from it, his smile never wavering.

I sit down and trying to look elegant, smart and witty all at the same time. If I can make myself good enough for the capital then all I have to do is survive the first day.

"So tell me Celia," Ceaser begins a hush falling over the crowd almost immediately "What's it like begin able to represent district five in this years hunger games?"

I swallow hard and smile despite the fact that I feel like I might vomit I manage to say with a false confidence in my voice, "Well the only word I can think of to describe how I feel is honor. It's just so amazing that I got the chance to do this. I'm so lucky and I'll do anything to win."

"We don't doubt that one bit." He says wiggling his eyebrows at the crowd, "And how about the opening ceremonies? How did you like your outfit?"

"Oh it was fantastic! I never would have thought something so average like my district could be turned into something so beautiful." I say making up my answer on the spot because I honestly hated my chariot outfit.

"I personally loved it! I'm sure your stylist put a lot of effort into that dress." Ceaser says.

"No! He's so talented he could make something fabulous like that on the spot!" I say with what I hope is an adorable giggle.

"Aren't you charming!" He says with a laugh "And your training score? How do you feel about that, rather high for someone from district five, don't you say?"

"I can't believe how I did, I was so surprised that I did so well, but I'm not going to lie I wish I could have pushed myself just that much further so I could have gotten a little but higher of a score." I say trying to act modest and determined.

"I must say we were very surprised, but don't worry it was in a good way!" He says laughing again.

Right as he's about to ask another question the buzzer goes and I know the times up.

"Ladies and Gentle men! The lovely Celia Torrence of district five!" Ceaser grabs my hand as we stand up and raises it above my head.

The crowd cheers and I give them a shy wave before heading back stage as fast as I can. When I get back stage I fall onto one of the couches in the waiting room with the tv's so I can watch the other interviews with the other tributes but most of them look like they aren't paying attention. I'm overcome with a feeling of relief and exhaustion but I manage to keep myself awake so I can watch the rest of the interviews. The tributes walk across the stage smile and give their five-minute interviews and you can obviously tell who's trying to be what. When Christan comes on stage I start paying attention a little bit more then before. He's obviously being charming which I think he's very good at. The audience seemsto be paying average attention to him as he talks about his score and the opening ceremonies like everyone elses interview but then he starts talking about his family and how much he loves his sisters and father. It seems like some of the capital citizens are crying, the story he's telling is just so touching. When the buzzer rings and he has to leave the stage the audience makes so much noise you can barely hear Ceaser over them. Seconds after he arrives back stage with me.

"Hey" I say a huge grin coming across my face, "You were great!"

He comes over and sits next to me putting his hand discreetly over mine for a few lingering seconds before pulling away again before the other tributes notice.

"So were you, very cute." He says with a grin that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle in an adorable way.

I smile then turn back to watch the interviews. We sit with the rest of the tributes watching the rest of the interviews in silence and when it's all finally over there has been at least three deep secrets and four people cried but I don't judge them considering. When everything is over we are ushered like cattle back to the elevators but Christan pulls me aside around the corner were they can't see us. He kisses me then puts his hand on the side of my face.

"I want more then anything to see you tonight but tomorrow is the big day and I don't want you falling asleep on the platform so were going to say good-bye now and I'll see you tomorrow morning. Bright and early." He gives me a weak smile and kisses me again.

"Fine." I say disappointed and hug him tight. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

He gives my hand a tight squeeze and we walk towards the elevators together. We end up crammed in the last elevator with six other tributes in an awkward silence. It stops on the third floor were a traumatized girl about fourteen years old steps out and walks quickly out of sight. Then it stops at my floor and I step out without looking back. I'm so scared all of a sudden. Without Christan beside me I'm so scared. Tomorrow is the start of my death. I start to shake uncontrollably as a walk towards the living area were Shane is.

"Oh hun! You were great!" He wraps me into a giant hug and I hug him back. "You did fantastic. But try to get some sleep. I want you well rested for tomorrow. It'll be a while before you get to sleep a full night again."

I nod and he lets me go with a slight shove towards my room. I drag my feet until I get to the outside of my door. Rubbing my eyes with one hand I open the door and step inside. I quickly change into a pair of green wool pants and a big sweater before turning off the light and crawling into bed. But I can't sleep. I shiver with cold a fright. My head pounds and my thoughts are going a mile a minute. What will the arena look like? Will I slowly freeze to death out there or over heat or maybe I'll get attacked by some horrible mutation they make in their labs. And once I sort of get over freaking out about my death I start thinking about Christan. I'll have to watch him die in order for me to win. He has even said that he'll do anything for me to win but I'm not sure if I'll want to live after losing him. Eventually I fall into a restless sleep filled with nightmares of my death, Christan's death, the arena and tomorrow morning. It will be the longest morning of my life.

**I finally have a new chapter! Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to get out a new chapter every few day (no promises but I'll try), as always thanks for reading and leaving reviews!**


	16. Chapter 16

The sun is barely over the horizon when the clock next to my bed starts making a unbareable high-pitched buzz. I try to drown out the noise by covering my head with the pillow when I realise what day it is. For a few seconds I had forgotten that I'm going to my doom. My heart drops into my stomach and a feeling that I might vomit becomes all to real. I close my eyes and try to hold back the thought of what today is but I know it's to late. If I can just pretend this isn't happening maybe it won't. But no matter how hard I try I know in only a few hours I'll be in the arena fighting for my life with twenty-four other kids. I give up on trying to forget pushing myself out of the bed I stumble half-heartedly towards the bathroom. I try to push all thoughts out of my mind while I fiddle with the buttons on the shower. When I finally figure out how to get hot water, I've already wasted ten minutes of my freedom. I'm only in the shower for about fifteen minutes when a cold robotic voice fills up the bathroom,

"Two hours until all tributes need to be at the loading station."

With a terrified whimper I step out of the shower, dry off and get back into my pyjamas. Might as well be comfortable before I have to fight for my life. I walk out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen. I'm to nervous to be hungry but I know I need to eat because I might not get any food in the arena. When I get out into the hallway the smell of food is overwhelming and slightly sickening. But I load up my plate with toast, eggs, bacon and a tall glass of orange juice. I pick away at the food and force myself to eat all of it. By the time I'm finished I'm shaking with fear and my legs feel like they have lead coursing through them. I put my head in my hands and try not to cry. I need to be strong or I'm not going to make it through this. Then the cold robotic voice fills up the room again,

"Forty-five minutes until all tributes need to be at the loading station."

My whole body is filled with an uncomfortable cold sweat feeling. My head starts to spin and my whole body is shaking. All my insides feel like they are pooling at the souls of my feet. I stand up and stumble towards the living area were I collapse on the couch and barry my head in the pillow. I start to sob silently into the pillow so it just looks like I'm napping. This is the end of my life. I know it is but it doesn't quite seem real. It seems like I could wake up any minute and be back in my house, in my room, were I am safe. But I know I'm not and before I know it I have to head towards the loading station with Shane by my side.

"It'll be okay, you know what to do. Just try to get to the cornicopia but don't get to risky." Shane rambles the entire walk to the loading station but I'm not listening.

When we get to the loading station Shane wraps me in a hug before I have to get onto a plane with Zeus and he whispers good luck to me. I smile at him and hope that this isn't the last time I see him. When I get onto the plane Zeus is sitting at a table eating what looks like a roasted duck. I go and sit across from him at the table. He glances at me then says with a mouth full of duck,

"Your tribute outfit is over there on the couch, you need to change into it before we get there."

And with a nod of his head he goes back to his duck. I stand up with trembling knees and grab the bunch of fabric in a plastic bag. I walk towards what appears to be a little closet and change into a pair of tan pants, and dark green shirt and a black coat. When I sit back down at the table Zeus lazily slides a silver necklace across the table.

"This is yours. It got approved, your item. So here." He says his mouth still full.

I pick it up and my eyes well up with tears and I pop the locket open. I had almost forgotten that I had an item to bring. Inside is the only picture the that my dad had of me, my sister and him. It's the three of us when me and my sister were still to young for the reaping and we were all sitting out in our backyard under our huge tree, smiling and laughing. I wipe the tears from my eyes, close the lockets, put it on and tuck it under my shirt.

"Oh, and I need to do your hair later to so lets just get this over with now, okay?" He says exasperated.

I nod and walk over so he can do my hair. He spins it into two really horrible buns on the side of my head, and I vow to take it out as soon as I'm in the clear in the arena. Suddenly the windows go dark and I know we are getting really close. I walk back over to my seat across the table. All to soon the plane is sinking down and I know we've arrived at the arena. I take a deep breath and walk off of the plane and down a long hallway where I'm stopped by a woman with a large needle in her hand.

"Arm please." She says and when I extend my arm she stabs me with the needle and I wince.

"What was that?" I ask rubbing my arm were she stabbed me.

"Tracking device." She bored then she turns and walks away.

I follow the hallway until I get to a dark gray room with a glass tube in the centre and a single bench by the wall. I go over and sit down contemplating what could be the last five minutes of my life. In five minutes I have to get into that elevator and fight other kids. I have to find Christan as soon as I get up there but I also need to get to the cornicopia. But if I try to get to the cornicopia I could lose Christan though and die. But we need stuff to survive. I need to find him but I could lose him and if ether of us goes to the cornicopia we could die. Then my five minutes are up and a robot voice tells me,

"Please board the elevator."

I start shaking all over again but I force myself off the bench and stand in the glass tube. The second I stand in the elevator the door slides closed and I'm locked inside. It starts to rise and things get really dark. My knees start to go weak then there's a blinding light and I know I've reached the surface of the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 74th annual hunger games! 60...59...58...57...56...55..."

I start to look around wildly trying to find Chirstan. When I see him five people to my left.

"49...48...47...46..."

He looks at me and starts making wild gestures at me.

"43...42...41...40...39..."

He points at himself, then the cornicopia, then me, then the forest that's across from me.

"36...35...34...33..."

It takes me a while but then I realise what he's saying, _I'm going to go for supplies. You run to the forest and I'll meet you._ I figure it's no use arguing so I nod and survey the rest of the arena.

"27...26...25...24...23...22..."

Theres the forest, a large lake and what I think could be a wheat field.

"18...17...16...15...14...13...12"

With ten seconds left I position myself to run as fast as I can.

"7...6...5...4...3...2...1."

And suddenly I'm running for my life.

**Yeah new chapter! I'm trying to get the next one up very soon! Maybe even today, so fingers crossed! As always thanks for the reviews!**


	17. Chapter 17

When the gong sounds I'm off my pedestal faster than I thought possible. Theres a blur of green and tan surrounding me as I run past every other tribute, bobbing and weaving to avoid everyone. I've only made it about twenty-five feet when a smash of pain sends me flying through the air until I land with a crunch on my back. Then much to my surprise Charlie jumps on top of me, pinning me down. I try to shove him off but he's to heavy so I reach up and drag my nails from above his left eyebrow and down past his chin. With a howl he reaches up and covers his face with one of his hands then he grabs my hair with his free one. Using my hair as leverage he starts smashing my head against the ground and I start screaming. I desperately try to push him off or hit him in any way but he's just to heavy and my head is starting to ache from the repeated poundings it is receiving. I do manage to get a good hit on him across his jaw but when I do he moves his hand from the side of his face and hits me in the gut.

Right then he give my head an extra strong bash against the ground and my vision goes dark and fuzzy around the edges. He was right, he is going to kill me. I try to push him off again and this time to my surprise I feel his weight lifted from on top of me. I try to see what has happened but my vision is still to dark but I can hear Charlie yelping in pain and there's a pounding sound. When I can just barely see I find out that the district two boy is beating Charlie to death with the blunt end of an axe. A wave of guilty relief runs through me but I push it aside. The district two boy stops hitting Charlie when he stops yelling. Suddenly he turns on me with a sickening grin and starts running at me. I scramble backwards then onto to my knees. I quickly grab a rock and push myself onto my feet. Turning around I throw the rock blindly hoping I manage to hit him. Then much to my surprise it knocks him just under his right eye. He howls but I don't stay to see what happens after that. I turn around and sprint towards the forest. I ignore all the screaming I hear behind me and run towards the forest, never once looking back. I think about stopping to see if Christan is okay but I know if I stop I could get attacked plus if I go back the plan could be ruined. So I keep running.

I finally break through the forest and about fifty feet in I run smack into the girl from district twelve. Fear runs through me like a bullet. I push myself to my feet as I try to figure out what I'm going to have to do. I don't want to kill her but if she attacks me I will. She dances on her toes for a few seconds and I try to mirror her as best I can, that way if she attacks I'll be ready. Then faster than I've ever seen anyone run she turns and bolts away from me. A wave of relief runs through me as I realise I won't have to kill anyone yet. I turn around and sprint towards the right; away from the girl and away from the bloodbath.

I think about running until night fall but I quickly decide against that. I need to find somewhere to hold up until I can find Chirstan, if he's still alive, but I try not to dwell on that thought. Climbing a tree and staying there for the night seems to be my only option. I quickly find a tree nearby that can support my weight and protect me from the view of others. I scale the tree until I'm concealed by branches. Then I wait. I soon realise that I can see everything from my spot here. The cornicopia, the lake and all the tributes. I can see the last few tributes running away from the cornicopia or picking the last supplies away from it. There are a lot of people laying on the ground and I know there dead but I try not to think of that or the fact that one of them might be Christan. The sun the capitol created in the sky is just sinking over the horizon when the cannons start. Boom,boom,boom,boom... I count on my fingers untill they stop. Eleven tributes. I watch the bodies of the tributes as they're picked up and carried away and I try my hardest not to wonder if one of them is Christan. And I try to not feel grateful that I'm alive, or to feel sad that they're dead. I didn't know them after all.

I sit in my crouched position on my branch for what feels like hours judging by the pain in my legs. My stomach growls adding to my discomfort and making me wonder if I should have ignored Christan and gone to the cornicopia too. Soon I'm going to get thirsty to, then I'm in real trouble. I don't know if I'll be able to sneak water from the lake by the careers, who have now inhabited it, and I'm positive that's going to be the only source of water in the arena. It's a great way to get us closer. I start scanning the ground for a nearby berry bush I might be able to steal from, when I hear it. A rustling sound in the bushes a head of me. My muscles tense as I think of what it could be. It could be another tribute, or just an animal, but it sounds to big to be an animal. If it's a rabbit I might be able to kill it. That is I would be able to if I had any weapons. And if starting a fire wouldn't be too risky. And if it's a tribute then I have to really hope that my trees foliage protects me or I'm in a lot of trouble. But I quickly realise that if they get to close to my tree they'll see me anyways. And I can't see were the tribute will come out of the bushes clearly enough to see if they are a threat. The rustling gets closer with every one of my thoughts and I start to think about how I'll have to kill the tribute that comes out of those bushes no matter who it is. I'll have to strangle them, or find a really pointy stick. But I don't think I can silently break off a branch so I position myself to leap onto whoever might be coming out of those bushes. Right when I start to think my muscles can't take anymore the bushes part. A dark shape come through so I close my eyes and leap down on top of them.

Theres a thud as we hit the ground but I manage to stay on my feet in a crouched position over top of the tribute. I try not to think about what I'm doing as I wrap my hands around their neck and try not to look into their face. The person under me grabs my hands but I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Celia..." The person groans trying to breathe "Celia... get off me..."

Out of impulse and curiosity I look down and immediately my hands let go. Staring up at me from the ground is a very dirty, very sweaty, and wounded Christan wearing the biggest grin of relief I've ever seen. Not believing what I'm seeing I grab his face with my hands and kiss him hard on the mouth.

"Your alive!" I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him tightly.

His arms go around my waist and we spend a second in peace just holding each other.

"Yeah I'm alive. No thanks to you." He laughs and I move over so he can stand up.

"Yeah, sorry. I thought you might be someone else." I say guiltly.

He wraps his arms around me and kisses my forehead.

"It's okay," He says with a smile "I forgive you."

I kiss him again then rest my head against his shoulder.

"Lets get into the tree of yours until morning okay?" He looks at me and I nod.

We climb the tree until we find a forked branch to hold the both of us.

"I managed to get a backpack, but I'm not sure whats in it yet." He says as he pulls a dark brown bag off his shoulders.

"Lets open it and find out!" I say suddenly excited at the thought of food. "Then we can take a look at your injuries."

He opens the bag and starts pulling things out and handing them to me. We end up with a packet of crackers, a flashlight, a roll of gauze for bandages and a full water bottle.

"This is great." I say as we put everything back except for a gauze.

"Yeah I guess so, but lets save the food until tomorrow when we really need it okay?"

"Sounds good." I say a little sad because I'm getting really hungry. "Now lets see your wounds."

He nods and I notice a cut across his right eye brow. I rip off a piece of the gauze.

"I can't really do much in the dark but in the morning anything really bad I can wrap up." I say.

"That's cool I don't think its to bad," He says as I try to gently clean the cut on his face.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"Just this." He says as he rolls up his sleeve revealing a large gash from his wrist to his elbow.

"How did this happen?" I say trying to ignore how bad it looks in the dark.

"I think the girl from district two, I got a knife thrown at me. Oh that reminds me!" He reaches into his sleeve and pulls out a short knife, "This is the one she threw at me, I managed to get it off the ground as I was running."

I take that knife and put it into the bag before turning back to his arm. I dab it until it looks sort of clean. It still looks pretty bad but I'm probably just overreacting.

"We'll take a better look at it tomorrow okay?" I say trying to not sound worried.

"Okay, sounds good." He says and he weaves his good arm around my waist.

The sky turns darker and before long Christan is snoring softly beside me. I try to not look over at his arm and just focus on the sky. It only takes a few second of waiting before the anthem plays and the faces of the dead tributes show up in the sky.

The girl from district three.

The boy from district four.

Charlie.

Both from district six.

Both from district seven.

Boy from district eight.

Both from district nine.

The girl from Christan's district.

That's eleven kids how are never going home. The last tributes face fades away and I look over at Christan. He's awake and looking at the sky.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

He just nods. Then he puts his head back and closes his eyes again. I take a deep breath and lean into him. The first day is over and I know tomorrow is just going to get worse.

**Done this chapter! I'm so excited to get to write about the games I'm going to defiantly try to update a lot more often. As always thanks for any reviews, I look forward to reading them!****  
**


	18. Chapter 18

I'm woken up by the sun shining through the leaves and into my face. I rub my eyes and look over to see if Christan is awake yet. To my surprise he's sitting next to me wide awake staring off into the distance.

"Your awake already." I say stretching my arms.

"Yeah, the cannon this morning woke my up." He looks ahead expressionless.

"There was a cannon? Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah a few hours ago, and no not really but I will be when you win." He looks at me with a determined face then starts to climb down the tree.

I notice he's avoiding using his injured arm but I decide not to bring it up until later, it could just be sore. I climb down the tree after him then wait for him to dig up breakfast from inside the backpack. He brings out four crackers and the bottle of water. He hands me two of the crackers and takes a sip of water.

"Thanks." I say nibbling on the pathetic meal we have planned, compared to our meals at the capital this one makes me very sad.

He grunts an acknowledgment then pops one of the crackers into his mouth, and takes another sip of water. Then he passes the bottle to me. We finish our meal in silence and I decide its time to look at his arm.

"Alright lets look at your arms before we start walking okay?" I say taking the back pack from him and taking out the gauze.

"Alright." He says and rolls up his sleeve wincing.

I brace myself but what I see still shocks me. My stomach drops when I see the area around the cut is a patch work of dark purples and greens. The cut itself is much deeper then I had originally thought and its turned crusty around the edges and not in a scabbing over sort of way. I fight the urge to gag at the look of it.

"Oh... well I'm not going to lie to you, it's not looking good." I grimace and tear of a bit off the gauze.

"And that why I love you." he says trying to lighten the mood but still grimacing.

I use a bit of our water to wet the gauze then start to try to clean the cut. Theres a unbearable stoney silence between us but I can't seem to strike up a conversation while I'm cleaning his possible life threatening wound.

"It felt a lot worse this morning and it certainly doesn't look too much better." He winces as I clean the cut and I give him an apologetic look.

"I don't think I can do too much without any anesthetic." I say after I finish cleaning the cut.

"I know and unless we steal some there's no way were going to get any." He says not at all hopeful.

I disregard the comment as I toss the gauze I was using into the bushes. Then I wrap his arm tightly with the clean roll.

"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you. I don't really know what I'm doing" I say as I tie the gauze off.

I release his arm and look at him.

"Your doing fine, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have had the will power to even make it this far." He smiles at me then kisses me lightly on the lips.

I smile back at him and I give his hand a squeeze but I'm still really worried. I don't want to think about this anymore so I decide it's best to start moving.

"We should start walking. I say we go right. So we can still see the cornicopia but we're under the protection of the trees." I say as I gesture towards the direction I want to go.

"Sure thing." He grabs my hand and pulls me that way with a chuckle.

Already he seems to be turning back into the Christan I love and leaving behind the cold, distant man from this morning behind us. I'm so grateful that he's normal again but that doesn't change the fact that we spend most of the day in silence. We both know that if we make too much noise we could attract the other tributes to us. But in the silence my mind starts to wander. I end up wondering what will happen if it's just the two of us left. I want to think that I won't be able to kill him but I know in my heart if it comes down to it I'll be able to. It'll kill me but I know I'd have to, it's what he would want. Because of this thought I give Christan the only knife. The thought that I might have to kill him with it later drives me insane and make me want to throw the knife deep into the woods.

By the time the sun if hanging in the centre of the sky both of us are sweating and exhausted the arena is warmer today then it was yesterday and the fact that we've spent all of it walking makes it even worse. We decide to sit under one of the trees and drink some of our water for a lunch break.

"We're going to need to find more water soon. At the rate we drink it we're going to run out about mid-day tomorrow." I say handing the water over to him.

"I know but I don't like that idea of going anywhere near the lake. It just seems like a death trap with those careers running around." He responds putting the bottle back into the backpack.

We sit there for a bit and I know we have to get up soon but the thought of doing that just seems so unwelcoming after the hours we just spent walking. I let my self relax a bit more against the tree. When I look over at Christan he seems to feel the same way I do. The area around here is so nice looking with the tall lush green trees. You could almost forget you're in the hunger games.

"I know we're done our water break but it's just so comfortable here, could we stay a little longer?" I ask watching a salamander climb onto the toe of my shoe and look at me.

"Sure. We've been walking non-stop all morning, we deserve a break."

I smile at him gratefully then go back to watching the salamander. It's so strange-looking. It's about the size of the palm of my hand with orange and red scales that look like their made of little gems. It has two strange blood-red eyes and especially sharp-looking black claws on its front feet. It flicks its blue tongue at me and blinks a few times and I blink back with a smile. Aside from the creepy eyes, it's actually really cute. Then it tilts its head back and makes a loud clicking sound from the back of its throat. Seconds later two more show up but this time their bigger, about a foot long.

"Christan?" I say as three more show up.

"Yeah?" He says his eyes closed and his head resting against the tree.

"We might have a bit of a problem."

By the time I say this they're coming in groups of four or five, and there's about fifteen gathered around us and more keep showing up. The largest one is the size of my calf.

"What do you mea-" He cuts off mid sentence when he opens his eyes and see's the salamanders "What are they?"

They look at us blinking and flicking their tongues. The one that was on my shoes climbs down and walks over to my hand that's laying by my side. Nether of us dares to move or even make a sound as it climbs onto the back of my hand and pokes my wrist with its nose. I swallow loudly and it looks up at me blinking its blood-red eyes. It flicks its blue tongue across my wrist and a burning pain starts up where it licked me. I shreak loudly and fling it off of my hand and into the bushes. Then the crowd that has surrounded us jumps at us all at once. In a second Christan shoved my out of the way and sent my sliding into a tree with a painful crunch. Theres a growl of pain and I look over and see Christan stabbing at the salamanders with the knife I made him carry. He cry in pain and jumps forward as a particularly large salamander tries to drag its claws down his back.

"Christan!" I shout and shoot myself forward to help him.

I desperately kick at the larger salamanders that have started to appear. A few of the flick their tongues at us burning our clothing and skin were they touched us. I quickly realise that there is more coming then we can fight off. My fight or flight reflex kicks in and I grab the discarded backpack off the ground and grab Christans arm to run away. He howls with pain and I realise I grabbed his injured arm but I ignore it. I start running knowing there's no way were going to be able to fight all of them off, and I drag Christan by his bad arm. Our feet crunch on twigs and leaves as we run but we don't seem to be fast enough. I can hear the salamanders behind us and when I look back I can see them running on two legs like people do. I know there's no way we can out run them in the forest with both of us keep stumbling over roots and the uneven ground so I quickly ver towards the clearing were the cornicopia is. It's a dangerous last-ditch effort but I go for it anyways out running tributes might be easier. I can hear Christan running behind me panting and struggling to keep up.

"Hurry!" I shout knowing that if ether of us stops we'll be trapped.

I sprint untill I get to the middle of the clearing than skid to a stop to look behind me. I can see Christan catching up on me and I can see the salamanders cowering at the edge of the forest line.

"We can stop running!" I say to Christan as he reaches me panting.

"Really?" He stops and looks over at the forest

There at the forest line are the salamanders lined up looking at us, but from here they only look like specks.

"I say we don't ever go back over there." Christan suggests with a half-hearted chuckle.

I laugh and turn and kiss him.

"You need to stop trying to save my life. You could have died from pushing me out of the way like that." I whisper to him.

"Never." He whispers back and he kisses me softly, "I'd rather die then watch you suffer."

We walk to the other side of the clearing together keeping an eye out for other tributes. When we get to the other side I hear something that automatically lifts my spirits.

"Do you hear that?" I say excitedly.

"What? I don't hear anything." Christan says making a strained face like that might make it easier for him to hear.

I giggle, "It's a stream."

His face lights up with a smile and I resist the urge to run towards the sound. Carefully and following the sound of the stream we make our way through the forest until in the distance there's a bubbling surface. I jog ahead for the last distance and stop right at the edge.

"We don't have anything to clean it with." He points out as he runs up next to me.

"Could we just chance it?" I ask hopefully.

"Well I don't know we might be able to, but it could be really bad."

"I'm going to just try it." I say taking the backpack from him.

I root around for a bit until I find the water bottle then I fill it up in the stream.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't want you to get sick." He says sceptically.

"Well I figure, that I'd rather die from what ever this water MIGHT have in it, then for sure of dehydration." I explain.

I look at the bottle for a few second then go to drink some when a beeping sound makes me stop. Confused I look around and see floating from above the trees a small silver parachute with a box tied to it. Christan catches it and opens it quickly. Inside is a small bottle with iodine written on the outside.

"Oh this is awesome! Thank you!" Christan says at the sky like the sponsor might hear, then he hands me the bottle and I add a few drops to our water.

"Lets check your arm while we wait for the water okay?" I say to him.

He rolls up his sleeve and I'm surprised by how dirty the bandage looks. It has brown dirty smudges and a red mark where it seems like the cut has re-opened. I carefully unwrap the bandage on his arm and he covers his eyes with his free hand.

"What? Are you freaked out by it?" I ask trying to joke around light-heartedly.

"Yeah, kind of. And it's really hurting." He still has his hand over his eyes.

When I finish removing the bandage I can see why it's hurting.

"Well, that's probably because it's kind of infected." I say trying to keep my voice calm.

"Kind of?" He asks peering through his fingers.

He groans at the sight of it and I wet another piece of gauze to start cleaning it again. The cuts turned an ugly yellow colour and the bruising around it seems to have spread. I'm suddenly gripped by the thought that I might not be able to fix him. This could hinder him for the rest of the games or even make it impossible for him to defend himself against others.

"We need something to disinfect with. This water isn't going to work for much longer." I say grimly.

"Well we're sort of out of luck than, huh?" He says looking at his arm in disgust.

"We'll think of something." I say suddenly overcome with sadness.

"It'll be okay Celia. If anyone can fix me you can." He says putting his hand on the side of my face.

I wrap his arm back up and look into his eyes. I can tell that he's trying to be strong for my sake.

"I just don't want to lose you." I say holding back a sob.

He pulls me into a tight hug and holds me close.

"You can't get rid of me this early in the games. I vowed to get you to victory didn't I?" He says it as a joke but I burst into tears.

"But I don't want to lose you ever." I sob into his shirt and he kisses the top of my head.

"We knew going into this I would have to die for you to win." He says softly.

I pull back from his hug and look him in the eye.

"But I don't want to live without you."

He looks at me very serious than kisses me. When he pulls back and looks at me he says very seriously.

"Celia. I love you more than anything else in my life. And when I die. For my sake. You have to live without me. I want you to be happy and live a normal life. I want you to forget about me and move on. But remember I love you." He's so serious when he says this a chill runs up my back.

"I'm not making any promises." I say. He pulls me into a hug and I wrap my arms around him holding him close and savouring the moment as long as I can. I know there can't be to many left.

We end up spending the rest of the day walking in a silence full of sadness and worry. By the time the sun has set we are already in a tree waiting for the anthem to start. When it does I cast a sideways glance at Christan remembering how it effected him last time, but he has his eyes glued to the sky were the faces of the fallen will show up very shortly. The district eight girls face shows up and then disappears.

"You still okay?" I ask Chirstan looking over at him worried.

"Yeah," He says, "I'm just really glad it's not you up there."

With that comment he slips his arm around my waist and leans his head back against the tree quickly falling to sleep. But I stay awake. I can feel his arm around me radiating an unnatural heat from it. He's got a fever. And I can see by the shine on his forehead he's sweating. Normally I wouldn't worry about that but it's freezing tonight.

He needs medicine for his arm but I know it would cost too much for a sponsor. The only way to get it is to steal from the careers but that seems way to dangerous. Unless I do it at night when they're out hunting. I smile mischievously to myself when I realise how great my plan is. Tomorrow I'm going to steal from the careers. And save Christan's life while I'm at it.

** Yay long chapter this time! I'm going to be going away from about two weeks in ten days so I'll try to get a few more chapters out before I go or at least have some that I can post while I'm gone. So if I don't post that's why But I'll try my best to!  
**


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